Making Rape Education Meaningful for Men: The Case for Eliminating the Emphasis on Men as Perpetrators,Protectors, or Victims

Analysis of college men's responses to a fictional woman revealing a rape experience indicate that men want to know how to support women who have experienced rape, however, they feel unprepared to do so. Additionally, men reported their previous education on rape as insufficient, inappropriate, and irrelevant leading us to conclude that rape prevention strategies that focus on men as perpetrators, potential victims, and/or protectors are less than ideal for reaching men. However, based on the men's responses in the interviews and reflective writing pieces, we suggest that teaching men to be supporters or allies of raped women holds promise for making rape education relevant to the men. The paper concludes with suggestions for practitioners on how to meet current rape prevention goals while shifting the focus of the training for men and encourages further empirical testing.