Apparently adapting your facial expression is the best way to avoid becoming a target of violent sexual assaults, at least according to one university seminar in New Jersey.
In a depressing but true story, Ramapo College in New Jersey hosted a presentation ‘Haven – Understanding Sexual Assault’ where attendees were given advice on preventing rape by minding their physical appearance. The talk was even led by a woman – Cory Rosenkranz, who has come under fire from attendees on the night.
Amongst Rosenkranz’s advice was warnings for women to raise their self-awareness to ‘avoid inviting’ sexual assault – including the way women dressed, their social interactions with men, how much they drink as well as their body language and facial expressions.
According to Cosmopolitan, one attendee told reporters:
“She was saying that women need to watch their body language and that women should practice how they articulate their face [in a social setting] by practicing in the mirror.”
A junior at the presentation echoed the same disbelief of attendees, saying:
“My thought the whole time was maybe women shouldn’t practice how long they’re blinking, men should just not rape people.”
The online backlash forced Ramapo College to respond, although their one tweet has angered women on campus, who feel the college have not addressed the ‘victim blaming’ nature of the talk:
Ramapo College’s approach to sexual assault prevention is and has always been to not blame the victim.
— Ramapo College (@RamapoCollegeNJ) October 31, 2014
.@RamapoCollegeNJ Are you deciding to respond now because alums are upset? Why didn’t PR respond sooner? #AccordingtoRamapo
— Sarah Galo (@SarahEvonne) October 31, 2014
@RamapoCollegeNJ I want to scream for all female students who live on campus knowing this presentation’s indicative of the school’s culture…
— Corey O (@quintessencey) November 1, 2014
