Letter: Changes in security don't change rape culture

In my four years at Duke, four of my friends were sexually assaulted or attacked on campus with the intent to sexually assault.

Two were committed by acquaintances and two by unknown assailants, but not a single perpetrator was charged in any of these cases. Apparently, sexual assault is not a punishable offense on this campus. Right after each attack, mandatory dorm meetings were held to tell female residents to lock their bathroom doors and not walk alone at night.

No mandatory programs were held to educate residents about sexual rights and ethical boundaries. Each year, the number of precautions necessary increased, starting with not walking alone at night and now escalating to not entering unsecured rooms.

Locks, self-defense classes and the buddy system may keep you personally from being assaulted but will never stop rapes from occurring. Why? Because women do not cause sexual assaults, they do not ask to be raped by walking alone at night or being in an unlocked bathroom. Only rapists cause rapes.

Instead of just teaching women how to protect themselves from the potential, why not also educate the potential rapists?

We should be educating men (and women) about the rape culture, the value of women, sexual ethics, how to recognize boundaries, and about how we can work to prevent sexual assaults. Studies have shown that men who are educated about the effects of rape on a woman are less likely to commit a sexual assault during the next year.

The current campus culture towards women and sexual assault can lead men to view rape as okay and that they have the right to violate a woman and not be punished.

To effectively prevent violence against women we need to educate those who cause the violence, punish those who commit sexual assaults and change the culture for women on this campus.