Preventing sexual violence requires early, appropriate sex ed
"Carley Weixelman was sexually assaulted as a freshman at Gonzaga University in Washington state.
Following the incident, she received a text from the man who she says raped her in a dorm room. It was clear in the text the man, who was a fellow student at the Catholic college she met the day before, 'didn’t understand that what he did was wrong,' she said.
'The next day he texted me and said something along the lines of ‘sorry you weren’t into it but I was,’ and to me it was really obvious that I wasn’t OK with it, but maybe he didn’t have the education or didn’t know it was wrong,' said Weixelman, 21.
The sexual violence described by Weixelman, as well as her confusion about who to reach out to and what exactly constituted as rape, are some of the reasons education about sex is so important, according to the state of Oregon. It’s also why the state recently released an online sexual violence prevention resource map full of sexual health data and information ranging from teen pregnancy statistics to facts about when children begin to engage in sexual intercourse to details about bullying and sexual violence incidents and more.
State officials say that education about sex, healthy relationships, consent and other topics can help to address risk factors that lead to sexual violence occurring. They hope that the interactive online map can help raise awareness. The Center of Disease Control defines sexual violence as 'a sexual act committed against someone without that person’s freely given consent,' which includes rape, coercion, unwanted sexual contact, drug or alcohol-induced penetration when a person is incapable of providing consent and even non-physical sexual attention, among others.
'Research studies show that this does work, sex (education) does lead to preventing sexual abuse, violence and bullying,' said Sasha Grenier, a Oregon Department of Education sexual education specialist. 'It does that by several different key messages, including teaching students how to recognize and maintain healthy relationships, identify and communicate their own boundaries, values and needs and by laying a foundation of social emotional skills that promote empathy and respect for others.'”
