ICYMI: The Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) released a study into sexual violence, surveying more than 5000 people aged 18-45. It found 1 in 5 people (22.1%) say they have committed some form of sexual violence. Who is a perpetrator? Numbers that high tell us it’s mostly ‘regular’ people, doing so either intentionally or unintentionally. This is the conversation the nation needs to be having. In fact, it’s the conversation you should absolutely have with your social circle today.

Couple of things to note about these results. The study included acts of sexual harassment and coercion, sexual assault and image-based sexual abuse under its banner of ‘sexual violence’, and examined various behaviours within these categories. The Conversation has a breakdown of the results here. Crucially, the results are based on self-reporting – the people identifying their own behaviours as coercive or non-consensual. It means the true number of perpetrators is probably more than 1 in 5.

For a long time we’ve talked about the victimisation rate in a particular way. You’re probably familiar with the statistic that 1 in 5 women in Australia have experienced sexual violence. Or riffs on the familiar refrain: "Why does every woman know another woman that was raped. But no man knows a rapist?" This study provides the counterpoint, giving us something to solidify an argument around what we already know: that this isn’t a few monstrous people assaulting many, many victims.

In fact, it may be that the reverse is true? According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 14% of all people in Australia have experienced sexual violence. Against the 22% of perpetrators, this suggests one victim is being subjected to violence by more than one perpetrator.

So again, if the victims of sexual violence are normal people – friends, family and colleagues, perhaps even you – then so too are the perpetrators. Friends, family, colleagues, perhaps even you. If we’re honest, “let’s talk about what consent means” is not all that hard to have because it’s usually conceptual and abstract. The conversation that’s hardest to have is: “Has there been times that you or I have not sought clear consent?” Or: “When have you or I used coercion, emotional manipulation or pressure in a romantic interaction?” Or: “Are there previous sexual partners that would consider you or I to be their perpetrator?”

Some of the AIC study results are gendered, others not so much. Men are 3x more likely to commit image-based abuse; and 2.5x more likely to commit sexual assault. For other behaviours, perpetration rates are much closer:

• Pressuring someone for dates/sexual activity: 11.6% M, 8.8% W

• Emotionally or psychologically manipulating someone for sexual activity: 7.3% M, 4.5% W

• Any sexual harassment or coercion: 18.2% M, 13.9% W

If we want the number of sexual violence victims to decrease, the number of perpetrators must decrease. That includes addressing the behaviour of previous perpetrators, to prevent them ever doing it again. While I completely understand the outrage when perpetrators of extreme violence are described in the news by their acquaintances as “normal”, “nice” or “friendly” (it’s mostly used in sensationalised, irresponsible reporting)… it’s also a reminder that perpetrators of violence aren’t always monsters in their day-to-day interactions with others. They may very well be a helpful neighbour, have a good job, have interesting hobbies, be the funny friend.

There are many things that need to happen at institutional levels to reduce sexual and other types of violence. Much of it is out of the hands of regular people – our job is the social element. So a very tough and vulnerable conversation is in order. Who is the 1 in 5 in your social circle? And how will you all make sure none of you add to the statistic?

– Crystal
Founder & Chief of Everything at Zee Feed
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Smart stuff on the Internet 💭

All the stuff I found on the web that made me think, smile, or have an ‘aha!’ moment. Spend your Sunday reading them – you'll be better off for it:

Katy Perry’s “Woman’s World” Is a Monumental Catastrophe on Pitchfork
"If Perry was willing to cop the built-in bad press of making a song about women’s lib with an alleged abuser, shouldn’t the song at least be a banger? Instead, it’s unfathomably tepid, irritating at best. In the immortal words of Sister Catherine Rose Holzman, uttered moments before she died: ‘Katy Perry, please stop'.’”

In Democracy in Retrograde, Emily Amick Talks About Political Engagement and Her Cancer Diagnosis on Teen Vogue
“When I was going through cancer treatment, people did show up for me, they weren’t neighbors, they weren’t college friends, they weren’t distant cousins … they were the people I met from civic engagement. I post a lot about politics on the internet — and through that I’ve built a community of people based on our shared values.”

Who Are These Big Book Lists For? on Defector
If you’ve seen or heard about that NY Times Top 100 Books list… this is a gooood read: “The list shows a similar problem to the book recommendation cards: all the recommendations now are the same. There is not one book on the Top 100 list so far that I have not seen on dozens of lists before. So then, who is the audience for this list if not people who read a lot? What is its goal?”

And finally, a note: on Monday, Nine Entertainment closed down the Australian publications for Refinery29, Vice, Kotaku, Gizmodo and Lifehacker. Around 40 people have lost their jobs, including many friends of Zee Feed. The loss of Refinery29 Australia in particular is devastating – the team published incredible work and I wrote many pieces for the site that other women’s fashion/lifestyle titles would never touch nor do half as well. They were truly committed to diversity and uplifting underrepresented voices. I included both Refinery29 and Vice in this ‘Recommendations’ section more times than I can count, so it didn’t feel right to send out this issue without acknowledging the loss 💚

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