"Dont Be That Girl"

In order to address issues of alcohol facilitated sexual assault in Edmonton, Canada the “Don’t be that guy” campaign attempts to shift blame and responsibility away from victims by educating men that sex without consent is considered sexual assault. Though the marketing strategy has proven effective in lowering rates of sexual assault (or at least reports of it), a group calling itself the ‘Men’s Rights Group’ of Edmonton has recently come out in a shocking backlash to these messages with their own “Don’t be that girl” messages. 

And we thought Canadians were the nice ones, eh?

Messages like “just because you regret a one night stand doesn't mean it’s not consensual” aim to target potential victims of sexual assault by shaming women into reporting about their experiences. However unlike the poster would have readers believe, sexual assault is the most under-reported crime in Canada, a mere 6% of the total amount of sexual assault cases actually go reported. Furthermore, false accusations of rape happen no more than any other crime at about 2-4%, meaning that 96% of the time the woman is telling the truth.

Aside from the obvious fear of slut shaming victims experience when coming out about assault, the fact that so few reports actually lead to some kind of conviction further dissuades women from seeking justice against their perpetrators. So the question that hast to be asked to these men is: why would women go through a lengthy and many times fruitless court battle, facing accusations of lying and “asking for it” in order to lose on almost all fronts?

Urging men to stop rape by shifting the way they think about women’s bodies, especially in situations of impaired judgment, is one of the biggest aims of the “Don’t be that guy” campaign. According to the “Violence Stops Here” website, studies questioning men ages 18-25 found that “48 per cent of the men did not consider it rape if a woman is too drunk to know what is going on,” which eerily corresponds to a study conducted by the University of Alberta in which over half of sexual assaults took place when the victim was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

This cultural mindset, a literal “get out of jail free” literally gives men a method by which sexual assault is masked under the banner of “blurred lines” intoxication—exactly the type of message the ‘Men’s Movement’ of Edmonton was trying to perpetuate.  What we need are not more girls owning up about consent, but ones openly coming out about the lack thereof and an honest and clear cut discussion about sexual consent (especially in situations of impaired judgment) and what it means. Only by placing responsibility where it belongs—in  the hands of perpetrators, can be truly begin to take a step forward in combating this staggering epidemic affecting millions of women around the world.

So c’mon, don’t be those guys.