Ending Rape Culture and Child Sexual Exploitation Together

Learning Objectives:

●Define and create awareness about the impact of Rape Culture 

● Foster empathy with women and 2SLGBTQ+ people 

● Discuss actions students, including male-identified individuals, can do to end Rape Culture

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Notes for Educators:

Rape Culture refers to the normalization of sexual violence through cultural narratives influencing all levels of social interaction. Rape culture can manifest as jokes, comments, TV shows, music, workplace interactions, and policy and law, among others. Consequently, male sexual aggression, sexualized violence and harassment against women and the LGBTQ2S+ community, and re-victimization and victim-blaming are presented as inevitable and normal events. 

As direct effects of Rape Culture, survivors are not believed, experience victim-blaming, public shaming and social stigmatization. In addition, perpetrators are not held accountable, their aggressive behaviour remains unchallenged, and sexualized violence is considered part of the status quo. 

Similarly, Rape Culture makes bystanders less likely to intervene as they will not identify sexual violence as a problem but rather as regular behaviour.

Curriculum Connections:

Civics and Citizenship Gr 10 (CHV2O):

• B1.1 describe some civic issues of local, national, and/or global significance

• B3.5 identify examples of human rights violations around the world

Politics in Action: Making Change Gr 11 (CPC30):

• B1.1 Identify some agents of political socialization (e.g., the family, public education, religious institu-tions, the media, peers, personal experience, political/social organizations), and analyse how these agents affect their own personal political beliefs and engagement and the beliefs and engagement of others 

• B3.2 Analyse the impact of some issues of political importance, with a particular emphasis on issues related to equity, human rights, and/or the environment (e.g., homelessness, child poverty, growing economic inequality, foreign aid, free speech, accessibility issues, refugee crises, discrimination against girls and women in many countries, urban sprawl, carbon emissions, climate change, protection of water)

Healthy Active Living Education Gr.12 (PLL4O): 

• C3.4 analyse the portrayal of different relationships in the media with respect to bias and stereotyping, and describe how individuals can take action to encourage more realistic and inclusive messaging