F*ckrapeculture presents bystander intervention to Senate

F*ckrapeculture gave Ohio University Student Senate a presentation on rape culture ideals and bystander intervention that the group hopes to present to other students across campus.

The organization’s workshop included f*ckrapeculture co-founders Allie Erwin and Claire Chadwick, along with Bekki Wyss and Madison Koenig. The team gave a presentation to Student Senate that they hope to give to other student groups on campus about what rape culture is and about bystander intervention.

The presentation began by setting a groundwork for what rape culture is and what consent is.

“You can’t assume that consent exists, you have to make ensure it is verbal, enthusiastic and sober,” Erwin said. “It’s an ongoing active process between two equals.”

The group strongly urged the idea that consent needs to be sought after instead of just being assumed. During the presentation, they tried to make this prevalent by giving hypothetical scenarios and deciding as a group if there was consent or not.

“Understanding the rape culture is talking about all of those things that lead to rape as...the end,” Chadwick said.

Following the overarching rape culture presentation, the f*ckrapeculture members continued into a bystander intervention presentation highlighting different steps to take to try to diffuse risky situations before they even become a problem. The presentation was full of suggestions for every possibility, such as knowing the aggressor or not.

The members of f*ckrapeculture ended their presentation with the 10 tips for better bystanding. Most of these tips revolved around simply saying something if you see something you disagree with.

“What we are worried about [is] ensuring that sex is equal between both parties, ethical and that it’s fun,” Erwin said.

The group is continuing to advance their ideals and better the continuing culture around the Ohio University campus and they hope that this presentation will make this culture change easier. The presentation was a mock presentation, as Erwin is a member of Student Senate serving as the Honors Tutorial College senator, so the general body meeting was the presentation’s first stop to get feedback. The group hopes to make this presentation to organizations across campus upon request by each organization's leaders.

“What the group (f*ckrapeculture) is doing, which is fabulous, is putting an ideal out there,” Dean of Students Jenny Hall-Jones said.

Another topic on the senate’s plate at the meeting was a discussion led by Governmental Affairs Commissioner Jordan Ballinger about a state healthcare bill that is in the discussion stages. The bill, if passed, would make colleges have an opt-in health care system instead of an-opt out system that is in place now.

Ballinger spoke with Ohio Rep. Michael Henne about the bill, and Henne wanted college student feedback. The discussion at the meeting was simply to gauge interest and listen to all comments so that Ballinger can report them back to Henne.