Men should be equal participants in the fight against sexual violence, actor and activist Rosario Dawson said during the National Conference on the Primary Prevention of Men's Violence Against Women on Tuesday at the Hyatt Regency in D.C.
"For so many years in this work, I have wondered why ending rape is 'women's work,' for 95 percent of the violence inflicted on women is done by men," Dawson said, reading from a message by Eve Ensler, the writer of the popular play "The Vagina Monologues." "We don't rape ourselves."
Both Ensler and Dawson are board members of V-Day, an organization that seeks to end violence against girls and women.
The conference, sponsored by the international organization Men Can Stop Rape, Inc., aimed to discover how men and women could work together to prevent violence against women. The conference addressed themes such as sex trafficking, sexual assault in the military and dating violence.
Ending sexual violence can start with small actions, said David Roth, a board member of Men Advocating Change, during a workshop on promoting the issue among college students. A good start to activism could be something as small as talking with a roommate about the derogatory comments he makes about girls, he said.
Performances like "The Vagina Monologues," events like Take Back the Night and groups such as Men Against Violence Against Women also have an impact, said Ashwini Hardikar, an organizing trainer for Students Active for Ending Rape (SAFER).
"It's about changing the entire culture of what is acceptable and what isn't," said Richard Saenz, another SAFER trainer.
The conference's panelists and speakers stressed the need to change the perceptions and attitudes toward sexual violence when one in three women in the world will be raped, killed or beaten, according to Dawson.
"What allows a man to undress a woman when she is completely intoxicated with no ability to give consent or even know what is going on, and stick himself into her?" she read from Ensler's speech.
It is time for men to "break the secret code of dudes" and speak up against violence against women, Dawson said.
"The majority do not stand up and say or do anything about the violence that is going on to their mothers, sisters, daughters, girlfriends, wives, grandmothers," Dawson read. "They remain silent and passive, and the silence consolidates their loyalty and solidarity in the circle of men ... To stand up as men against violence against women is to break the secret code of dudes."
Dawson invited all men in the audiences to stand up and affirm their commitment to advocacy against sexual violence.
Other men are beginning to take action against violence against women, including Vice President Joe Biden, who helped push the Violence Against Women Act through Congress in the 1994.
"The Obama administration is a vagina-friendly administration," Dawson said.
Men hold most of the positions that allow them to legislatively condemn sexual assault, yet most activists against sexual assault are women, she said.
"Fifty-two percent of the human population is women, and yet they are the ones who are suffering the most violence, and that's really not going to change unless men become a part of that conversation," Dawson said.
The conference addressed the prevalence of sexual assault from the widespread rape of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo to domestic violence incidents involving celebrities, such as the Chris Brown-Rihanna case.
Brown is accused of hitting girlfriend Rihanna in February - an incident Dawson said should be a platform to talk about dating violence issues.
"There are so many violent acts that we can quote inside the media," she said.
"I think it's really important to use those opportunities to really talk in the greater whole."
You can reach this staff writer at landerson@theeagleonline.com.
