An interesting thing happens over at Price House. Virginia Tech women walk right through the front door. Virginia Tech men, on the other hand, often times feel as though they need permission to enter. This highlights a commonly held misunderstanding that must be clarified right now. So let's set the record straight ...

Well, perhaps the first step is to define issues such as gender violence, sexual harassment, assault, stalking, and abuse NOT as women's issues, but rather as global issues that affect men and women of all races, ethnicities, ages, sexual orientations, religions, and physical abilities.

Gender violence is a men's issue, too! Men's lives are impacted on many levels ...

• Women who are rape survivors are also the daughters, sisters, wives, mothers, grandmothers, nieces, aunts, partners, granddaughters, and friends of men. Clearly men have a vested interest in helping to create and sustain a safe world in which the women in their lives can exist and thrive.
• Though it's generally considered a taboo subject and no one talks about it much, men too are victims of rape. As many as 10-20 of all males are sexually violated during their lifetime. Most of the perpetrators are heterosexual men. Like men who rape women, these men use sexual violence as a weapon for power and control. If you are a male survivor of sexual assault, there are available resources to help you. Contact the Women's Resource Center of the New River Valley, Cook Counseling Center, or the Counseling and Advocacy Coordinator at the Women's Center, Christine Dennis.
• According to Virginians Aligned Against Sexual Assault, 98% of sexual violence is committed by men. But only 7% of men are rapists. These statistics are very confining to the 93% of men who do not commit violence against women. The fear and threat of sexual violence leads to an atmosphere of mistrust, intimate relationships become constrained by the fear of violence, and all men are viewed as potential perpetrators of sexual violence. The VAASA Men of Vision campaign, among many other men's organizations, stresses the responsibility of men in ending all forms of sexual violence.
• Finally, most sexual violence is committed by men. In order to eliminate it, men must resolve to make it stop!

This means that gender violence is a men's issue, too!