For many college age students, sexual violence is a pervasive part of campus life. Every 21 hours there is another rape on a college campus. One in four women in college today have been raped and 60% of male college students, “indicated some likelihood of raping or using force in certain circumstances.” While rape is occurring regularly, the reporting of it is not. Of the college-aged women who are forced into unwanted sex, only 25% describe it as rape and less than 20% report to the police. Given these statistics, it is clear that during a pivotal moment in their sexual and intellectual lives, young adults are immersed in a social world fraught with coercion, force, and worst of all, silence. Just as these statistics have remained accurate for at least 20 years, the experience of young people is the same as ever. An essential element in counter-acting these traumatizing experiences that are so common in the college setting is dialogue around consent. Honest conversations about sexual violence and healthy sexual relationships, in addition to rigorous dialogue about how rape, victim blaming and sexual harassment are perpetuated through media and popular culture, are necessary to break the silence and end rape.

This is the kind of discourse that FORCE encourages and creates, since the exhibit confronts the issue and tells the stories of victims and perpetrators. In combination with existing campus resources, classes, and services, this exhibit can be a powerful tool in the continued efforts of University of Arizona to combat rape and the culture that surrounds it. By promoting a complicated conversation, University of Arizona can shape a generation of young adults who can create a culture of consent