2008 Woodie Awards
Video related to this article is available below.Issue date: 2/14/08 Section: News
Anti-rape group reaches out to fraternities
One in Four seeks frat brothers' help in supporting rape victims
Lara Seligman
"We're not like those anti-rape guys on campus. We want to be the pro-women guys."
So declared College freshman and Phi Kappa Sigma member Matt Amalfitano. He is an active member of One in Four, a national organization that aims to reduce sexual assault by empowering both men and women.
The program - founded here at Penn in the fall of 2006 by College senior Nick Roosevelt and Wharton senior Stuart Stein - is reaching out to Penn's newest fraternity members this semester.
The members of One in Four are working with the Inter-Fraternity Council and the Office of Public Education to reach every pledge class this semester and next fall.
"This is an opportunity for the chapters to educate their members," College junior and IFC president David Ashkenazi said. "There's no downside here. This can only help and continue to help the Greek community."
He added that he also hopes to increase the number of fraternity members participating in the program. Currently, the only two fraternities with members are Phi Kappa Sigma and Sigma Epsilon.
One in Four is one of the fastest growing rape prevention programs and the only program in the nation statistically proven to reduce rape and sexual assault.
"The name One in Four actually comes from the statistic that one in four women from the age of thirteen to the time they graduate college will have survived rape," Amalfitano said. "The scarier thing is that four out of five of these women will have known their rapists for a year on average."
The presentation the group makes to fraternities is entitled "How to Help a Sexual Assault Victim: What Men Can Do".
College sophomore Josh Pollack, President of the One in Four chapter at Penn, said the presentation is "really a program designed to put men in the role of helping survivors. We describe … the statistics and the myths about sexual assault and rape." The program emphasizes labeling the women as survivors rather than victims.
So declared College freshman and Phi Kappa Sigma member Matt Amalfitano. He is an active member of One in Four, a national organization that aims to reduce sexual assault by empowering both men and women.
The program - founded here at Penn in the fall of 2006 by College senior Nick Roosevelt and Wharton senior Stuart Stein - is reaching out to Penn's newest fraternity members this semester.
The members of One in Four are working with the Inter-Fraternity Council and the Office of Public Education to reach every pledge class this semester and next fall.
"This is an opportunity for the chapters to educate their members," College junior and IFC president David Ashkenazi said. "There's no downside here. This can only help and continue to help the Greek community."
He added that he also hopes to increase the number of fraternity members participating in the program. Currently, the only two fraternities with members are Phi Kappa Sigma and Sigma Epsilon.
One in Four is one of the fastest growing rape prevention programs and the only program in the nation statistically proven to reduce rape and sexual assault.
"The name One in Four actually comes from the statistic that one in four women from the age of thirteen to the time they graduate college will have survived rape," Amalfitano said. "The scarier thing is that four out of five of these women will have known their rapists for a year on average."
The presentation the group makes to fraternities is entitled "How to Help a Sexual Assault Victim: What Men Can Do".
College sophomore Josh Pollack, President of the One in Four chapter at Penn, said the presentation is "really a program designed to put men in the role of helping survivors. We describe … the statistics and the myths about sexual assault and rape." The program emphasizes labeling the women as survivors rather than victims.
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