No, stop. We should not and can not only focus on rape victims and what they should do to avoid being raped.

People can and do influence others from being rapists. We all take part in our rape culture and we can all examine those beliefs.

What Bystanders Can Do to Stop Sexual Violence

Another approach for preventing sexual assault is to learn strategies for intervening. Bystander intervention programs emphasize the importance of stopping bad behavior before it escalates, teach specific skills for intervening, and remind people that everyone has a responsibility to prevent sexual violence.

Students who participate in such programs are more confident in their ability to intervene and more willing to do so. Most importantly, rates of sexual violence are markedly lower on campuses that have implemented these programs. For example, one study found that experiences of sexual harassment and stalking were 11% lower and that instances of unwanted sexual activity with women who were too drunk or high to stop them were as much as 17% lower.

It’s tempting to read about the Cornell case and assume the apparent inaction in the face of problematic behavior is uniquely a problem at one college, or only with members of fraternities, or only with college students. But the reality is that pretty much everyone has been in situations where they’ve seen potentially problematic behavior and failed to speak up.

Understanding the very normal psychological factors that lead people to misperceive what others are actually thinking and feeling—and learning specific strategies for intervening—can make a real difference.