Male Student Claims Sexual Harrassment

AS Women's Group issues news release in response to complaint by male student of sexual insensitivity and harrassment. Authorizes male student to forward news release as he sees necessary.

A.S. Womens Center
CSU, Chico 750 Zip Chico, CA 95929, Tel: (530) 898-4756 Fax: 898-4756 womenscenter@csuchico.edu
                           For Immediate Release
                                           Start Date: November 6, 2003

To Whom It May Concern,

The Chico State Womens Center has had an overwhelmingly positive response to the idea of a penis registry from both male and female students, faculty, staff and community members. However, we have received our first e-mail of opposition. We feel it is appropriate to respond by explaining exactly what the penis registry is. This event is intended to be a positive way for men in the Chico community to show their support for women and do their part to stop sexual assault. Men who wish to participate will be given a short survey asking them to define consent and examine personal boundaries. If the participant scores 100%, they will be offered a license that states they are a responsible penis user. If they do not, they will be given a pamphlet on what sexual assault is and what consent is.
In a world where one out of eight women will be raped while in college; 51-60% of college men report that they would rape a woman if they were certain that they would get away with it; one out of twelve college men surveyed had committed acts that met the legal definition of rape; and 84% of these men said what they did was DEFINITELY not rape, this event is crucial to our community (--Martin, Laura C. (1992). A Life Without Fear. Nashville; Rutledge Hill Press, 71. Retrieved August 15, 2000 from http://www.uga.edu/~safe campus/).--Tavris, C. & Wade, C. (1984) The Longest War: Sex Differences in Perspective. Second Edition San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Publishers. --Warshaw, R. (1988) I Never Called it Rape: The Ms. Report New York: Harper and Row Publishers. -- Womens Action Coalition (no date given) WAC Stats: The Facts About Women New York: WAC).
In response to Mr. Truebles questions stated below, I think it is important to note that the VAST MAJORITY of sexual assaults are committed by men. Women do not need to register their vaginas because they do not use them as weapons, as some men unfortunately do. We feel, as does our advisory board, that the penis registry is a positive and lighthearted way to get men involved and thinking about what they can do to show solidarity with the women they love. Further, we are not sure exactly what is found sexually inappropriate about our flyers. The use of the word penis? In addition, Mr. Trueble poses the question of what we would do if we saw a similar flyer asking women to register their vagina. We feel that the proper response is to question why he did not seek out more information on the event before he jumped to conclusions. Wed like to think everyone involved in the Womens Center would adhere to this principle if such a flyer were posted.
The Womens Center will not be removing any flyers and we will not be sending out any apologies. We do not feel that we have done anything wrong. In fact, our goals of stopping sexual assault and violence against women are vital to the social well-being and improvement of our whole community, men included. We recommend that men interested in learning more or voicing their opinions about sexual assault attend our Men Against Rape Discussion to be held on November 13 at 7:30 p.m. in BMU 314.

Sincerely,

Rachel Whiting, Director                                
Trisha Derr, Program Assistant
Laura Hahn, Program Assistant                        
Kelly Dawson, Program Assistant

cc: The Orion, Synthesis, Chico News & Review, Chico Enterprise-Record, KZFR, Scott McNall, Womens Center Advisory Board, Feminist Supporters, Womens Center Volunteers.