While students understand the events that mark Tequila Sunrise as the most widespread college drinking weekend of the year, where participating bars open their doors at 6AM, to coincide with Homecoming events at Northern Arizona University, less realized is that this weekend is also commonly characterized by an increase in sexual assaults.

This year was different because the spike never quite subsided. People, mostly women, were being drugged and sexually assaulted throughout the month of November. Stories about what Myra Ferell-Womochil, director of community education at Northland Family Help Center, refers to as “non-alcohol drug facilitated sexual assaults” continue to be circulated across town.

“We are basing the increase in non-alcohol drug facilitated sexual assaults purely from word of mouth and informal disclosures …Women are simply coming forward and telling us or telling someone who is close to them, who then shares with us, that they have been drugged while being at a bar.”

Flagstaff DJ Emmett White, who spins regularly in many bars downtown, comments on how widespread sexual assault is. “A majority of the people I know in this town, including myself, have been drugged and/or targeted for sexual assault, and that’s not confined to the bar scene. It happens at house parties, it happens on campus, it happens at restaurants.”
While Mr. White regards the recent increase in sexual assaults stemming from downtown bars as cause for concern, he believes it is also a good opportunity to engage bar owners and bar staff, as well as patrons, in these issues.

Northland Family Help Center, Northern Arizona Center Against Sexual Assault and the Flagstaff Police Department have been working together for the last three years to assist the bars in making sure they have the tools they need to meaningfully address a few realities.

1) Alcohol is the most commonly used substance to facilitate date rapes and sexual assault.
2) Sexual assaults can and often do happen at any bar in town, all year round.
3) As bystanders to the potential for violence, bar staff who have been trained in prevention strategies can play a critical role.

This past Tequila Sunrise marked the third year in a row where NFHC offered sexual assault prevention training to local bar staff, and through their partnership with NACASA and the Flagstaff Police Department, also delivered posters to bars for the event with sober messages about watching your drink, looking out for your friends, and the popular “in your hands, you hold the power to stop rape,” which is intended to be placed above urinals in the men’s bathroom.

The Green Room was the only bar in town that had these posters hung up in the bar on the morning of Tequila Sunrise. Community educators for NFHC, Ms. Ferell-Womochil and the author of this article surveyed patrons on their reactions to the posters. We wanted to get a sense for how these messages were being received.

Despite one very intoxicated guy who was upset by the messages, slurring, “I don’t come to bars to have to hear about this kind of sh*t, I come to get my rape on,” most people appreciated the messages. Women shared stories of being drugged, harassed, and assaulted. Many men were appalled it happened it all. “If people feel the need to hang these posters” said one guy, “it is clear there is a problem, and that is really sad.”

When owner Rand Jenkins heard word his bar was being victimized, his response was “Shock and dismay, the typical ‘I never thought this could happen to me’ response. Then anger and frustration with the world, followed quickly by problem solving and crime fighting.”

Ms. Ferell-Womochil praised the bar for what it already does and his commitment to have his staff trained by NFHC’s community education staff. “Rand is really trying hard to create a climate within his bar that is not conducive to sexual assault. He is re-educating his staff.”

Says Mr. White: “There seems to be a sort of silent inaction on the part of most bar staff and owners when it comes to this, I think because they are afraid that addressing it will affect their business, and also because it requires a sea change in the mentality of people that work in the bar.”

At 1PM on February 28, The Green Room is hosting the first of three sexual violence education and prevention trainings given by community educators from NFHC. The trainings are specifically geared toward bar staff to meaningfully and appropriately combat sexual assault, highlights the important role bars can play in creating a safe space for their patrons, and are open to the public.

“I think that this education will hopefully start some conversations, raise awareness, and dramatically reduce the chance of this happening,” says Mr. Jenkins. “One of the biggest reasons why I decided to go into business for myself was the belief that I could help the community.”

As a DJ, Mr. White understands the role he plays in setting the mood, and recognizes the responsibility he has as a bystander with a microphone. “Some guys in particular think it’s cool to stand in groups at the edge of the dance floor and ogle the girls as if it’s a show or something, or to continue to pursue a dance or conversation after someone has said ‘no.’ All of these things contribute to an atmosphere I don’t want to be a part of, so … I’ll change the music, play something you can vogue to, that can do the trick.”

“If the creep factor in the room gets too high, you can feel it, something shifts in the air. I’ve been known to stop the music and point ‘em out, and remind people that they don’t have to be sleazed upon, that if someone is being creepy or predatory, to let me or the bouncers know, and we’ll get them out of the bar, no questions asked.”

It is important that men become active bystanders to the potential of sexual assault. Says Mr. White: “I’ve witnessed people trying to take advantage of the most clearly wasted woman in the bar. In this situation I’ll intervene and ask the woman if she wants this person around and if her friends are nearby, or if I can get her a cab.

“In cases where the person is too drunk or maybe even drugged to be coherent, I’ll try to get the perpetrator 86’ed or at the very least make sure the bouncers know not to let them leave together. These situations are tough because sometimes they are too out of it to even remember their address. For this reason and more, I hope people adopt and stick with the buddy system.”

Mr. White continues: “Men, join The MARS Project* (men against rape and sexism) on campus. Talk to other men about consent. Don’t be afraid to take things seriously and stand up for what’s right. Know that these problems are not going to disappear anytime soon, but if we don’t continue to talk and implement effective and creative ways of dealing with them, they will stay the same or get worse. To affect cultural change takes decades, and knowing what is right, educating yourself and others, and sticking to your guns can make it happen.”

• Someone cannot legally give consent if that person is intoxicated. Legal consent can only be given if it is: Verbal, Sober, and enthusiastic.
• If someone is intoxicated and “accidentally” rapes someone, that person is still accountable for the rape. It is not an excuse.
• Most drug-facilitated rapes involve alcohol, despite what is happening in the bars now.
• Most sexual assault victims personally know the perpetrator; most sexual assaults do not involve strangers.
• It is never a victim’s fault for being raped.
• Friends don’t let friends sexually assault someone. There is an important place for the bystander.

Resources:
Northland Family Help Center (24-hour crisis hotline): 928/527-1900 or
877/634-2723
Northern Arizona Center Against Sexual Assault (NACASA): 928/213-6112
Flagstaff Police Department: 928/774-1414
NAU campus Police: 928/523-3611

*women can join the MARS Project too!

From I Blame the Patriarchy:

Fulton is sponsoring one of those wackaloon anti-abortion bills requiring that women seeking abortions undergo an ultrasound procedure and be forced to view the resulting fetal image.

To rationalize this outrageous invasion, Fulton opines that subjecting a woman to an ultrasound will convey unto her “information about the reality inside her womb.” Fulton says that this “information” will “reduce the number of abortions.”

My comment on the issue:

“You know, I’m totally fine with this as long as the bill also requires manufacturers to display a photo of sweathshop workers alongside clothing, pictures of men holding guns to the heads of slaves in the congo as they dig for colton alongside cell phone ads; then images of children in Ghana who suffer from cancers and unexplainable rashes from breaking down the metals from our e-waste alongside sales of laptops. While we’re at it, lets put pictures of factory farms on packages of chicken and eggs. Lets show pictures of mutilated cows in fast food restaurants.

I’m all for showing people the reality of their actions, but requiring women to look at the fetus in their belly is really stupid. It is growing inside them, women know it is there. While the things we should feel guilty about remain hidden.”\

UPDATE: I got a email asking about colton. Here is an article, “How the Mobile Phone in your Pocket is Helping to Pay for the Civil War in Congo.” Related articles here.

In an unprecedented legal settlement, a former Arizona State University student who was raped in her dorm room in 2004 by one of the school’s football players will collect $850,000, and the Arizona university system will establish a women’s safety czar for all three major campuses — ASU, the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University.

The settlement ends a civil lawsuit filed in 2006 by the former student, identified as “J.K.” in court records, against Arizona State, the Arizona Board of Regents, then-head football coach Dirk Koetter and Darnel Henderson, the player who allegedly raped her. The suit claimed the university had placed her in a dangerous position, which led to the rape.

Although other rape victims have pursued lawsuits against universities and their athletes, the ASU settlement is unique in three ways: (1) the appointment of a highly placed safety officer who will review and reform policies for reporting and investigating incidents of sexual harassment and assault; (2) the extraordinarily high sum of university money paid to the victim; and (3) the public disclosure of the terms of the settlement.

“We would not have settled without the statewide women’s safety officer,” said Baine Kerr, the attorney for the victim and her family. “It was important to [the victim] that we establish something that will prevent this happening to other girls. It was an absolutely required condition of any settlement, and we are happy that the university agreed to it.”

read more

Editor of Ms. Magazine defended their decision to put Obama on the cover in today’s Democracy Now. This is the first time a man has appeared on the cover in 12 years. It’s clear that if you read the article, the image makes a lot more sense.

Here is a critic on the magazine’s website.

See this photoshopped image of Barack Obama ripping his clothes off like Superman to reveal a T-shirt that reads: “THIS IS WHAT A FEMINIST LOOKS LIKE”? That’s the cover of a special inaugural issue of Ms. Magazine, and it’s got some feminists upset. Ms. states the concept was born out of a meeting Feminist Majority Foundation chairwoman Peg Yorkin and Ms. had with Obama, in which the President-Elect purportedly told them: “I am a feminist.” According to Ms., Obama “ran on the strongest platform for women’s rights of any major party in American history.” Writing in the Daily Beast, Amy Siskind asserts the image is anti-feminist: “Who is looking out for the women of this country? Well, I will tell you who is not: Ms. magazine.” Feminist Law Professors say the image is a mockery: “[Is Ms.] symbolically looking to a male superhero to ‘rescue’ feminism? Very problematic imagery, in my view.” So, what do you think? Is Superobama the first feminist President, or is the idea of a guy feminist a joke?

Press Action called attention to this sad Washington Post story regarding the death of an old cypress tree.

The Washington Post ran a sad story a couple weeks ago about the death of an old tree. An ancient bald cypress tree dating back 1,000 years or more had met its demise in a remote swamp 80 miles southeast of Richmond. Dubbed “Big Mama,” the largest tree in Virginia towered over Cypress Bridge, a swamp in the Nottoway River. The Post reported that Byron Carmean, a retired horticulture teacher who “discovered” Big Mama in fall 2005, estimated her age to be between 1,500 and 2,000 years.

I wanted to elaborate on point they made about how the story used passive voice when citing a statistic about the cutting of cypress-tupelo forests in the south east. At the end of the article, the author snuck in the following:

All but 1 percent of cypress-tupelo forests have been cut in the Southeast, experts say.

Of course everybody knows that humans are responsible for cutting the trees – the author would say that it’s implied. But it is still a rhetorical trick, functioning in a manner that shifts the blame. By reading this, the focus is on the action, not those responsible for doing it.

What’s really creepy is that we talk about statistics regarding sexual violence against women in the same way. We say, for example, 1 and 4 women between the ages of 17 and 36 will be raped in their lifetime. It’s as if it is just happening to them and there isn’t anything that can be done about it; it’s simply part of the risk of the age group.

So the focus is one women to change their behavior–park under lights, hold keys like a weapon, watch people poor drinks, sleep with the windows locked. While the focus is on women, we’re not questioning the entire culture built on violent masculinity and the systematic subjugation of women.

In the same way, when statistics regarding the systematic destruction of the natural world are discussed in this way, we’re not holding the abusers accountable. Even if it is implied, our psyches need to be told. There are specific logging companies, CEOs, government contracts, corporate lobbiests who are responsible. If the atrocities are to stop the blame needs to be verbalized.