Peer Leader Oppurtunities
Men Against Sexual and Interpersonal Violence (MASIV)
MASIV was created out of the recognition of the need for men to take a more active role in addressing issues of interpersonal violence and sexual assault. Considering that 99% of rapes and sexual assaults committed in the United States are committed by men, it is certainly time for men to step up and get involved.
According to 2003 statistics, 20 women in the United States are victimized sexually every hour. That’s 20 mothers, 20 sisters, 20 girlfriends, 20 partners, 20 best friends of men in our country. Rape is not a “women’s issue”, it’s a human issue. If you are a man who shares these perceptions and concerns, MASIV wants you.
Discussions at meetings focus on developing a peer education program that discusses sexual and interpersonal violence from a male perspective. Issues of bystander apathy, male empathy for sexual abuse victims, substance use/abuse, homophobia, and personal responsibility are central to the proposed programming efforts.
MASIV has also recently been recognized nationally as an affiliate of NO MORE, inc. and is an official “One in Four” peer-education chapter. The name “One in Four” comes from the statistic that one in four college aged women have survived a rape or attempted rape since their 14th birthday.
Members of MASIV will have the opportunity to be trained as peer-educators and participate in the “One in Four” outreach group. These men will present the program, “How to Help a Sexual-Assault Survivor: What Men Can Do,” a powerful, provocative and empirically assessed program that has been shown to increase men’s empathy with victims of rape, significantly lower men's rape myth acceptance, as well as lower men’s likelihood of raping in the future.
MASIV is hopeful that contacts within the NIU Greek community, residence halls and the off-campus community will facilitate the identification of audiences for outreach presentations. We will work closely with Health Enhancement in our efforts to address the issue of sexual violence on the NIU campus. We will educate male students in regard to issues of sexual and interpersonal violence, rape prevention, and substance use/abuse in an effort to decrease incidents of sexual and interpersonal violence at NIU. In addition, we will recruit members and potential peer educators for MASIV.
MASIV meets monthly throughout the semester. Please contact Troy Melendez for more information, meeting times, and locations.