Engaging Men as the Solution to Campus Sexual Assault Prevention

We’re excited to invite allies and activists to share their perspectives on our blog.

This guest blog is written by Kyle Richard, Director of Men's Engagement at It's On Us.

Over the past few years, one question has taken center stage in the movement to end campus sexual assault and relationship violence: How do we, as educators, leaders, and experts, engage young men in this work? Typical programs and education requirements are often met with skepticism, hesitancy, and boredom, especially by young men. Ultimately, this unrelatable content is not effective. That’s why It’s On Us, the nation’s leading campus sexual assault prevention organization, is changing the conversation entirely, focusing not on what young men shouldn’t do, but who they should aspire to be. 

To transform how we can best engage young college men in campus sexual assault prevention, we first need to understand their relationships with these topics. Students understand that male-perpetrated violence is widespread, but what is often forgotten is that men are actually more likely to experience harm than to be the cause of it. In preparation for the launch of The Playbook, It’s On Us’ prevention education series for college athletes, I traveled across the country to speak with students about what would work for them. Through dozens of focus groups and conversations with more than 700 men in athletics, we discovered that many young men have been on the receiving end of violence. Moreover, when telling their stories, they didn’t use words like “abuse,” or “violence,” making it hard to gauge if they understood that they themselves had experienced this harm, or even that they, as men, could experience it. 

These conversations show the disconnect between standard prevention education and what young men are actually experiencing. By focusing on what they might do and engaging them exclusively as part of the problem, educators leave behind the people they are already becoming and their potential to be the solution. Many programs spread awareness about sexual assault prevention through sharing statistics, definitions, and one-size-fits-all tips on how to act if a student encounters violence that don’t take this reality into account. Our trainings at It’s On Us reinvents this by focusing on primary prevention tips, meeting young men where they are at with conflict resolution strategies, sexual and romantic communication advice, breakup tips, and more tangible strategies beyond the standard consent education of “yes means yes and no means no.” Our work pulls young men into this movement as part of the solution in a relatable way, not as part of the problem with cookie cutter techniques. 

Engaging men — both individually and as a collective — in campus sexual assault prevention needs to be a long-term effort, not just a performative one-time course. “Aspirational masculinity,” a term coined by Don McPherson, a close collaborator and mentor of mine, encourages us to analyze masculinity as authentic, whole, and evolving. This framework sits at the foundation of It’s On Us’ work with young men in Greek life and athletics especially. Young men in these spaces often have an overwhelmingly powerful social and cultural presence on campus that can be leveraged for good as leaders in the movement to end campus sexual assault. By teaching them who they CAN be in challenging moments, like a breakup, relationship conflict, and bystander intervention, we allow them to set the example for their peers and empower them to be the best person they can be. 

Beyond simply utilizing new strategies to engage young men in this movement, we also need trusted messengers to carry this work forward. As It’s On Us’ Director of Men’s Engagement and a former collegiate athlete, I can personally relate to the thousands of athletes I’ve trained through The Playbook. Because the message and the messenger align with these young athlete’s lived experiences, we have seen positive shifts and attitude changes in rosters across the country. Young athletes have reached out telling us that our work empowered them to be better, that they will move this work forward, and that they are ready to be leaders on campus. And with the expansion of The Playbook 2.0 and an accompanying women’s program, we are taking this philosophy to the next level. 

At the end of the day, there is no excuse for campus sexual violence, and there is also no excuse for why the same tactics that have isolated and pushed young college men away are still being used to combat it. These young men deserve to be heard, understood, and welcomed into this movement with open arms and relatable outreach. It’s On Us to bring men in and end campus sexual violence.

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