# data[].attributes.body
Fact Sheet

# data[].attributes.body
Justice for the missing and murdered Indigenous women of Canada

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

# data[].attributes.body
An Action Plan to Stop Sexual Violence and Harassment (March 2015)

# data[].attributes.headline
If We Treated Things Like We Treat People During Sex -- A Consent Video

# data[].attributes.subject
If We Treated Things Like We Treat People During Sex -- A Consent Video

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
If We Treated Things Like We Treat People During Sex -- A Consent Video

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
People ask permission all the time. Except when it comes to hooking up. Check out more awesome BuzzFeedYellow videos! http://bit.ly/YTbuzzfeedyellow MUSIC A Gypsy Waltz Licensed via Warner Chappell Production Music Inc. FEATURING Nick Zephyrin Allison Raskin Written by Allison Raskin GET MORE BUZZFEED: www.buzzfeed.com www.buzzfeed.com/video www.youtube.com/buzzfeed www.youtube.com/buzzfeedvideo www.youtube.com/buzzfeedyellow www.youtube.com/buzzfeedpop www.youtube.com/buzzfeedblue www.youtube.com/buzzfeedviolet www.youtube.com/cnnbuzzfeed BUZZFEED YELLOW Tasty short, fun, inspiring, funny, interesting videos from BuzzFeed.

# data[].attributes.body
Consent: it's as simple as tea!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Following is a list of male privileges. If you are male (and a man), listed below are benefits that result from being born with that gender and sex.
If you identify as a man, there's a good chance you've never thought about these things. Try and be more cognizant of these privileges in your daily life and you'll understand how much work we have to do to make for a society that is equitable to all people, regardless of their gender.

1. If you have a bad day or are in a bad mood, people aren't going to blame it on your sex

2. You can be careless with your money and not have people blame it on your sex

3. You can be a careless driver and not have people blame it on your sex

4. You can be confident that your coworkers won't assume you were hired because of your sex

5. If you are never promoted, it isn't because of your sex

6. You can expect to be paid equitably for the work you do, and not paid less because of your sex

7. If you are unable to succeed in your career, that won't be seen as evidence against your sex in the workplace

8. A decision to hire you won't be based on whether or not the employer assumes you will be having children in the near future

9. Work comfortably (or walk down a public street) without the fear of sexual harassment

10. Walk alone at night without the fear of being raped or otherwise harmed

11. Go on a date with a stranger without the fear of being raped

12. Dress how you want and not worry it will be used as a defense if you are raped

13. If you are straight, you are not likely to be abused by your partner, or to be told to continue living in an abusive household for your children

14. You can decide not to have children and not have your masculinity questioned

15. If you choose to have children, you will praised for caring for your children, instead of being expected to be the full-time caretaker

16. Balance a career and a family without being called selfish for not staying at home (or being constantly pressured to stay at home)

17. If you are straight and decide to have children with your partner, you can assume this will not affect your career

18. If you rise to prominence in an organization/role, no one will assume it is because you slept your way to the top

19. You can seek political office without having your sex be a part of your platform

20. You can seek political office without fear of your relationship with your children, or who you hire to take care of them, being scrutinized by the press

21. Most political representatives share your sex, particularly the higher-ups

22. Your political officials fight for issues that pertain to your sex

23. You can ask for the "person in charge" and will likely be greeted by a member of your sex

24. As a child, you were able to find plenty of non-limiting, gender role stereotyped media to view

25. If you don't spend much time on your appearance, you won't have to worry about about being criticized at work or in social situations

26. You can spend time on your appearance without having people criticizing you for upholding unhealthy gender norms

27. If you're not conventionally attractive (or in shape), you don't have to worry as much about that negatively affecting your potential

28. You are not pressured by peers and society to be thin as much as the opposite sex

29. You're not expected to spend excessive amounts of money on grooming, style, and appearance to fit in, while making less money than the opposite sex

30. Have promiscuous sex and be viewed positively for it

31. You can go to a car dealership or mechanic and assume you'll get a fair deal and not be taken advantage of

32. Expressions and conventional language reflects your sex (e.g., mailman, "all men are created equal")

33. Every major religion in the world is led by individuals of your sex

34. You can practice religion without subjugating yourself or thinking of yourself as less because of your sex

35. You are less likely to be interrupted than members of the opposite sex

36. Leave more examples in the comments below.

Get New Posts Delivered to Your Email Inbox

Totally free, totally automagic (delivered by Feedburner), never spammy, and you will only get an email when there's a new article, edugraphic, or blog post (no other announcements). Only the freshest.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
30+ Examples of Male Privilege - It's Pronounced Metrosexual

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Following is a list of male privileges. If you are male (and a man), listed below are benefits that result from being born with that gender and sex. If you identify as a man, there's a good chance you've never thought about these things.

# data[].attributes.body
Puts the focus for ending rape where it belongs: on rapists

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"Rape culture" has become part of our lexicon. But the validity of its use as a descriptor for the state of our entire society is still very much contested. Anti-feminist rhetoric would have you believe "rape culture" is a straw man constructed by misandrists and hypersensitive social justice warriors interested in exaggerating the oppression women face. Even avowed feminists have found themselves cringing at the term. As Kate Harding testifies in her crucial new book Asking For It: The Alarming Rise of Rape Culture-and What We Can Do About It: "It sounds so extreme at first that I confess even I, a proud feminist, initially balked at the term. Rape culture? Isn't that overstating things just a smidge?"

Luckily for us, Harding got over her initial reluctance to accept the phrase, and in Asking For It, she employs wit, humor, and empathy to explain how Western rape culture works to support rapists and denigrate victims. Asking For It is a guidebook for changing our cultural conversations about rape and responding to those irritating individuals who refuse to believe that sexual violence impacts us all.

Cultural myths about rape and rapists help perpetuate a society where 20 million Americans have been the victims of rape or attempted rape. Harding spends a third of the book debunking these myths and deconstructing the false arguments often advanced when discussing where the responsibility for ending rape lies. Our culture, Harding argues, treats rape like a "perpetratorless crime." People far too often focus on the role the victim plays in preventing rape rather than the role the rapist plays in, well, not raping. Refusing to center the conversation on the rapists hinders our ability to address rape as a public health issue-if no one is raping, how can it be prevented? As Harding points out, our collective inability to recognize that rape is a crime perpetrated by another living, breathing human being places the responsibility on women by default:

"Rape is presented as an abstract threat to women, the way climate change is a threat to the earth-it's a frightening specter we all live with, and we must change our behavior in hopes of warding it off, but you can't really pin it on anyone in particular."

This attitude contributes to the perception that rape is something other men do-not the guy who's your friend, neighbor, or family member-which in turn allows rapists to continue doing their thing, unpunished by the law or society.

Harding also focuses on the U.S. justice system's failings, delving into the misconception that false rape accusations are a Thing. While there are some people who were sent to jail based on false rape accusations, they are extremely few and far between. Harding points out that the folks who lied are not solely to blame for innocent people being sent to jail; our misconceptions about the nature of rape helps explain how far a rape case based on false allegations gets. High-profile examples of women crying wolf, such as Tawana Bradley and the case involving the Duke lacrosse team, were only pursued because the prosecutors and police officers involved ignored red flags and wanted to believe a story that matched our cultural ideals of what a real rape is-the "stranger in a dark alley" type.

Misconceptions on what constitutes a capital-R rape-a "legitimate" rape, if you will-abound in discussions of politics, given the tendency of the media to test the rationality of anti-abortionists by asking them if they believe in exemptions for rape and incest. Harding's dark humor is on-point when she describes anti-abortionists' wrong-headed beliefs on women and rape:

"There's rape, and then there's rape-rape. Women who are rape-raped don't deserve to be punished with forty weeks of incubating the product of that assault, followed by the most physically painful experience known to human beings, which also happens to kill several hundred women a year in the United States and causes severe, life-threatening complications in over fifty thousand more. And that's before you have to either give the baby up for adoption or raise your rapist's child. But women who were merely 'raped'? Yeah, they should probably have to endure all that."

It's worth noting this is only one of probably 50 passages I could cite from Asking For It that made me nearly die laughing. I never expected to laugh as much as I did at a book with "rape culture" in the title, and despite (or maybe because of) the seriousness of the subject, that laughter was incredibly welcome.

The last section of Asking For It is incredibly prescient given the recent headlines. In the final chapter, Harding analyzes the role pop culture and media play in promoting rape culture. Her discussion of GamerGate, MRAs, and pick-up artists was especially germane to my current internal dialogue about how the Internet facilitates rape culture. Harding writes earlier in the book about men who believe women hold all the power in society, and the relationship that belief might have to condoning rape:

"If one believes women are more powerful than men because we own practically all of the vaginas, then women's power to withhold consent to sex is the greatest power there is. Which means the guy who can take away a woman's right to consent is basically a superhero. Right?"

That attitude perfectly describes the trolls of GamerGate, whose rage is so often rooted in rejection and the feeling that the privileges afforded to them as men are being eroded. Harding describes GamerGaters' stubborn and seemingly irrational misogyny as a form of self-defense:

"The enemy is at the gates, and true defenders of gamer culture are ready to harass and abuse us all into submission-hell, rape and kill us, if they have to-until the war is won."

Much like the culture of white supremacy in the U.S., rape culture is at times a manifestation of winners fervently believing that they are losing.

If you're new to feminism and you're interested in diving deeper into the societal framework that allows for men like Bill Cosby to assault scores of women with impunity, or even if you're already familiar with the concept of rape culture, Asking For It offers a smart, concise, and surprisingly funny contribution to the dialogue on patriarchy, misogyny, and rape.

Attention Portlanders! Bitch Creative and Editorial Director Andi Zeisler is talking with Kate Harding about her book at Powells City of Books on September 8.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
"Asking For It" Puts the Focus for Ending Rape Where it Belongs: On Rapists

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
"Rape culture" has become part of our lexicon. But the validity of its use as a descriptor for the state of our entire society is still very much contested. Anti-feminist rhetoric would have you believe "rape culture" is a straw man constructed by misandrists and hypersensitive social justice warriors interested in exaggerating the oppression women face.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
80 per cent of rape victims know their attacker

It's Wednesday of week two, and the SU's "I Heart Consent" workshops are in full swing. As the campus Women's Officer I've been running around making sure my volunteers are prepared, their hands full of sticky notes, their heads full of ice breaker games. So when I read an article claiming an invitation to these workshops is "an insult", I'll admit, I was angry.

The author implied I Heart Consent workshops are classes which teach men not to rape, and an invitation to one is therefore tantamount to an accusation. He felt uncomfortable with the idea that he himself, "a decent empathetic human being", was being implicated in a crime he would never commit.

The truth is, I'm not sorry my workshop made this writer feel uncomfortable. The first time I was confronted with the statistic that 80 per cent of rape survivors know their attacker, I felt the same. When I thought about this and realised most rapists are normal members of society, I felt sick. I still do feel sick when I think about the cycles of abuse perpetrated by partners, parents, and friends of people I know. Self-styled "decent, empathetic human beings", like this writer.

The problem of sexual violence only gets worse at universities. If, as this writer claims "Russell group students" understand the nuances of consent, how do we explain the fact that one in seven women students will be raped or sexually assaulted during their time at university? This epidemic is going unseen and un-talked about.

This is why when I heard that NUS were running trainings for sexual consent workshops, I wanted to join the conversation.I wanted to run workshops which debunk the common myth which people like this writer still seem to believe, that "Rape only occurs between strangers in dark alleys." He took a picture with a sign, proclaiming "This is not what a rapist looks like", when the truth is, it is.

I'm not saying this writer himself has sexually assaulted someone but he seems to believe there is a particular profile of person that would, who's too busy lurking in the shadows somewhere to attend a consent workshop.

The truth is, sexual violence is enabled on a cultural scale. Columnists in broadsheet newspapers write of women "asking for it", catcalling and groping is an everyday part of the lives of women and LGBTUA+ people, and many people think it's as simple as "Yes means yes" and "No means no" when our workshops teach there's a spectrum of misunderstandings in between, and consent can only be an enthusiastic yes.

On this campus, Warwick sports teams chant songs about rape. A friend of mine from a club here at Warwick told me about a pre-drinks in which members of his club raised their voices as one in the chant. An exec member who had attended an I Heart Consent workshop last year told them to stop, mindful of survivors in the room who would be traumatised, and perpetrators who would be empowered.

This is what these workshops are all about. We're starting a conversation, raising awareness of an issue too often misunderstood. Part of that is targeting potential perpetrators, but another part is empowering survivors and giving general students the chance to learn how their actions form part of a culture and how they can make those actions more supportive to survivors of sexual assault at Warwick and beyond.

I hope our critics can learn to do this too. You may not like our consent workshops, but please, have a heart.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
80 per cent of rape victims know their attacker It's Wednesday of week two, and the SU's "I Heart Consent" workshops are in full swing. As the campus Women's Officer I've been running around making sure my volunteers are prepared, their hands full of sticky notes, their heads full of ice breaker games.

# data[].attributes.body
Cuts Vancouver sex assaults by 10 per cent in 2011

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The message on the poster is blunt. A young woman in red tights and a skimpy black dress is flaked out on the edge of a couch, her head turned away. A few wine bottles are on the floor.

"Just because she isn't saying no doesn't mean she is saying yes," the poster says. "Sex without consent = sexual assault. Don't Be That Guy."

The poster is one of three that went up at bars and around the city last summer as part of a campaign to chip away at the increasing rate of sexual assaults in recent years in Vancouver.

Six months later, Deputy Chief Doug LePard says the Don't Be That Guy campaign has contributed to a turnaround in statistics on sexual offences in Vancouver.

The rate dropped in 2011 by about 10 per cent, the first time in several years it had gone down.

Sexual assaults had defied recent trends in crime. While the overall rate dropped every year over the past decade, the rate of sexual offences went up. Strathcona had the highest number of sexual assaults in Vancouver from 2008 to 2010. The police linked the statistics to the large number of prostitutes in the area.

But Strathcona was not alone. Sexual assaults in downtown Vancouver, Coal Harbour and the West End increased by 22 per cent from 2008 to 2009 and went up another 29 per cent from 2009 to 2010. On the west side of Vancouver, sexual assaults dropped in 2009 but increased the next year to nearly the 2008 level.

Several assaults involved intoxicated young women who were vulnerable and lured by a predator, Deputy Chief LePard told the Vancouver Police Board earlier this week. The Don't Be That Guy program, which was developed in Edmonton and introduced recently in several Canadian cities, shifts attention from the victim to the offender.

The emphasis of public education is not limited to how women can make themselves less vulnerable, he said. The campaign aims to reach men with the message that they should not be "that guy," he said.

The reversal in the trend related to sexual assaults reflected the impact of the new education program, better training for police officers and more effective investigation and enforcement, he said.

All members of the police department were trained on investigative techniques for sexual assault cases. The seriousness of the crime was reinforced. Most minor sexual offences, such as sexual exposing, often lead to more serious crimes, such as sexual assaults, Deputy Chief Lepard said.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
'Don't Be That Guy' ad campaign cuts Vancouver sex assaults by 10 per cent in 2011

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The message on the poster is blunt. A young woman in red tights and a skimpy black dress is flaked out on the edge of a couch, her head turned away. A few wine bottles are on the floor. "Just because she isn't saying no doesn't mean she is saying yes," the poster says.

# data[].attributes.body
How this student’s defensive rant misses the point about sexual consent

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
George Lawlor is a student at the University of Warwick. He is the communications secretary for its Conservative Association. He is in his own description, an "abysmal journalist at worst, slightly above mediocre at best." And he is angry.

In a controversial recent post for The Tab, Lawlor describes his initial excitement - which quickly turned to outrage - at an invitation that he received on Facebook. As he explains, "You've been summoned to this year's 'I Heart Consent Training Sessions.' Your crushing disappointment quickly melts away and is overcome by anger." He goes on to explain, "Like any self-respecting individual would, I found this to be a massive, painful, bitchy slap in the face. To be invited to such a waste of time was the biggest insult I've received in a good few years. It implies I have an insufficient understanding of what does and does not constitute consent and that's incredibly hurtful. I can't stress that enough."

Because he was invited to a consent training event. An invitation that read, "These interactive 90-minute sessions provide a safe space for you to discuss the myths and facts around sexual violence. Our team of trained Warwick students will guide you through discussion of definitions of consent and healthy relationships."

Well, how dare they.

Lawlor goes on to state firmly that "I don't have to be taught to not be a rapist. That much comes naturally to me, as I am sure it does to the overwhelming majority of people you and I know. Brand me a bigot, a misogynist, a rape apologist, I don't care. I stand by that." Continuing to cite absolutely zero facts or data, he insists, "The only people who'll turn up will be people who (surprise, surprise) already know when it's okay to shag someone.... Self-appointed teachers of consent: get off your f__king high horse. I don't need your help to understand basic human interaction. Secondly, go and do something. Real people need your help and they deserve better than you. Next time you consider inviting me or anyone else to another bulls__t event like this, have a little respect for the intelligence and decency of your peers." The feature is accompanied with a photograph of him, holding a sign that says, "This is not what a rapist looks like."

Lawlor, who has recently written on the pain of being a skinny guy who doesn't "get as much sympathy as fat people" and the tragedy of apostrophe misuse, definitely seems sincere in his degree of umbrage taken. And if he says he has a built in aversion to non-consensual behavior, great. What he - and the fellow student who penned a similarly dyspeptic piece for (of course) Breitbart asking, "Why would any normal, right-thinking man attend a class that demonizes them and normal, healthy male sexuality by pretending that all men are latent rapists who would take advantage of women if they thought they could get away with it?" - seem tremendously invested in is misreading a situation because it bruises his ego.

Lawlor's entire argument is fascinating - note how quickly he derides an invitation that was likely sent to a large group of students and not as some specific dis to him as "bitchy." Note how swiftly he resorts to calling the initiative "bulls__t" to telling the organizers to "get off your f__king high horse," and to boldly assert that he is not a rapist because he doesn't look like a rapist. I'm going to generously assume the guy is young, so he doesn't understand the difference between inviting people to get educated on a topic and assuming that they're sex offenders, but I do have questions. Like, what the hell does he think rapists look like, what makes him think anyone's accusing him of behaving like one and why is he so outraged at the idea of sex education?

Writing a rebuttal in The Tab, student Josie Throup admits she's "angry" now too. "I'm not sorry my workshop made this writer feel uncomfortable," she says. "The first time I was confronted with the statistic that 80 per cent of rape survivors know their attacker, I felt the same. When I thought about this and realized most rapists are normal members of society, I felt sick. I still do feel sick when I think about the cycles of abuse perpetrated by partners, parents, and friends of people I know." Two years ago, journalist - and rape survivor - Zerlina Maxwell made a similar argument, saying, "You're talking about this as if it's some faceless, nameless criminal, when a lot of times it's someone you know and trust." And she drew howls of protest when she added, "If you train men not to grow up to become rapists, you prevent rape."

But consent initiatives do seem to work - after a 2011 Canadian campaign rolled out with the simple plea to "Don't Be That Guy" sexual assault rates dropped ten percent.

If you have been raped or you know someone who has been raped (and by the way, you do) you know what rapists look like. They look like people. A small number of them wear ski masks and brandish weapons. Many others look like your boss or the person you're dating or the person you met briefly at a party. They look like athletes and TV stars and female babysitters. They look like Mike Tyson and they look like Alex Kelly.

Opening up the conversation to explore the issues of boundaries and consent is not an affront to any one man in the room. The invitation to the workshop, by the way, didn't even mention gender. Nor did it use the word "rape." So why did Lawlor and his supporters presume this is such a "bitchy" enterprise, ignoring that consent is not an exclusively hetero male to hetero female negotiation? Why did they take the stance of personal outrage, instead of thinking, "Hey, I'm not a rapist, so I can be useful here. Maybe I help"? And instead of asserting the pointless objection that he doesn't look like a rapist, maybe Lawlor instead could have asked, "Do I look like a person who has things to learn, and things to teach?"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
"This is not what a rapist looks like": How this student's defensive rant misses the point...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
George Lawlor is a student at the University of Warwick. He is the communications secretary for its Conservative Association. He is in his own description, an "abysmal journalist at worst, slightly above mediocre at best." And he is angry.

# data[].attributes.headline
Violence Against Women - It's a Men's Issue

# data[].attributes.subject
Violence Against Women - It's a Men's Issue

# data[].attributes.body
Jackson Katz at TEDxFiDiWomen

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Violence against women—it's a men's issue: Jackson Katz at TEDxFiDiWomen