Northern campus host talks to clarify sexual violence

A blend of humor and seriousness was used at a discussion held at Montana State University-Northern's Cowan Hall Wednesday night to clarify what sexual violence is and how people can help intervene.

Norhtern's student-based Rape Prevention Education Task Force organized the presentation.

The presentation, which was called The Hookup, was given in a unique fashion by Connor Konz, an educator for Catharsis Productions. Konz said the discussion was not going to focus on men being evil.

Konz said the stereotype is that all men think about is sex and all that men want is sex all the time with all women.

"How many of you men can think of someone you don't want to have sex with," Konz said.

All the men in the room raised their hands.

"There. Myth busted," he said. "Someone call the Discovery channel."

The audience of about 30 people was asked to give names for women and men who have a lot of sex. Some of the names for women were slut, whore, cougar, prostitute and skank. The list for men included cheater, man ho, boss, stud.

The list for women was far longer and more negative than the men's. The audience was then asked to give names for men who don't have sex.

One audience membered said "sissy" and Konz said that men are also judged based on their sexual activity.

"We believe that men must have sex with women to be men, but if they don't then they're not considered men," said Konz.

Objectification defines someone or something's action or purpose. Konz said that words like slut can affect the ability for others to intervene when they see red flags. If a person is known as a "slut" and another person is being excessively flirtatious toward them, then people may just attribute that to their perceived behavior of a "slut."

The audience was asked to define what a bad hookup was. Some examples were sex wasn't great and alcohol was involved.

The audience was then asked to define what a rape situation entailed. Responses were no consent, alcohol, drugs, unwanted force and blackmail.

Konz said that because of the similarities between rape and a bad hook up, most people categorize instances of rape as bad hook ups. This leads to misconceptions about what a rape is.

"Only about 2 to 10 percent of people lie about being raped," Konz said.

A diagram was then drawn of a typical night out. A person goes to a bar with friends and buys a drink for someone they're attracted to. Later, the two of them go to a private location and "hook up," Konz said.

Using the same diagram, the actions of someone looking to willingly commit sexual violence was outlined.

First, the person engages in target selection by picking out the most susceptible individual. They then build themselves up under false pretenses and get their target to believe that they can be trusted. Later, the person isolates their target from their friends or from the public venue which leads to the Hitchcock moment.

Konz said the Hitchcock moment is when the person reveals their true intentions and takes advantage of their target.

"I hope they take away the idea that preventing sexual assault is all of our responsibility," Konz said after the presentation. "It's a community effort to change standards and change norms."

Konz has been working with Catharsis Productions for almost two years.

Catharsis Productions was founded in 2000 and their goal is to change the world by using innovative, accessible and research-supported programming to challenge oppressive attitudes and shift behavior, their mission statement says.