On Sept. 27, Duane Morrison entered a high school in Platte, Colo. There, he selected six girls as hostages, some of whom he then sexually assaulted, and then shot and killed one of them.

Not even a week later, on Oct. 2, Charles Roberts of Nickel Mines, Penn., walked his children to the school bus and told them he loved them. He then drove to an Amish schoolhouse where, upon entering, he separated the girls from the boys, and let the boys and teachers go. He lined up 10 girls in front of the blackboard and tied their ankles with wires and plastic ties. News reports indicate that Roberts had planned to molest his victims, who ranged from ages 7 to 13. When the police entered the school, he executed the girls, killing five and seriously wounding five others.

In post-Katrina New Orleans, sexual assault numbers are back to pre-Katrina highs with the population cut in half, and incidents of domestic violence are skyrocketing.

These are just the latest statistics in a pandemic of violence that has been perpetuated against women as long as we have recorded history. Commentators have pointed out that these killers were suffering from depression and trauma, yet few have cared to mention that they targeted women and girls as their victims. Even fewer mentioned that something in our culture gave the killers license to assault and execute women and girls.

These crimes provide powerful evidence that violence against women is part of the way we live, and deeply ingrained in our collective and individual psyches. Sexual violence is systemic and accepted in our society; it is woven into and upheld by our cultural institutions that continue to blur the boundaries between violence and sexuality, the legal system, the educational system and even our belief systems. It exists not only in the crimes that are perpetuated against women, but also, and may be more insidiously, it exists in the minds of women who out of fear of violence often cannot live up to their full potential as human beings.

Here are some statistics that we all have to live with: one in three women will be the victim of sexual violence in her life, the likelihood that a college woman will have non-consensual sexual encounters during her college years is far greater than that of the average woman. A victim of sexual violence will have her sexual history scrutinized and held against her in court, and the burden of proof will fall upon her and not the offender.

We need to put an end to a history and culture of patriarchy and woman-hating that is kept in place through violence. However, that struggle will only be successful if it is connected to the struggle for women’s liberation and equality, respect, and social justice for all. Only in a world where everyone can exercise self-determination, where gender, race, and sexual difference will not be held against us, can we teach non-violence, peace and respect and enact and enforce laws that protect women and their children from systematic and random violence in their lives.

Ending violence against women is personal and political, individual and collective. As a community, we need to break the silence that makes us complicit; as individuals, we need to examine our own behaviors, attitudes and beliefs about violence against women and the equality of women. Women need to empower themselves to have the strength to say that NO means NO, and to report any assault against us.

Men need to have the strength to be allies to those who are the victims of violence, and the courage and self-respect to call their friends on their sexist and disrespectful behavior. Only the actions of men can put an end to violence against women.

At the same time, we need to examine and change our institutions to make sure that violence against women will no longer be tolerated. We need to enact and enforce laws that send a clear message that sexual violence is a crime, and that perpetrators will be prosecuted and punished. And, most importantly, we need to give women the respect they deserve as human beings.

At Loyola, we are doing this work through the New Orleans Campus Consortium Against Violence, a grant effort funded by the Office of Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. Our goals include the enhancement of support services for victims of violence; the implementation of new training programs for students, faculty, and staff members; a revision of policies and protocols affecting victims and perpetrators; and incorporating violence against women issues into the curriculum.

To find out how you can be a part of ending violence against women, contact project director Ilyse Goldberg at the Career and Counseling Center, or the Women’s Resource Center.

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