Steam came out my ears when these little gems popped up in my inbox. If there’s a phrase that makes me see red it’s, “Well, what did you expect?” When applied to men and women working together, “rape” should NOT be the response.

Next up in our guest blog series, Tara Murtha discusses the vital role journalists play in shaping the public perspective of sexual violence.

Lately, it’s been all rape, all the time in the news.

 In light of the recent media coverage related to Jerry Sandusky, the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, the National Sexual Violence Resource Center and MaleSurvivor would like to remind members of the media about normal behaviors that are common for survivors of sexual abuse:

The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape supports the abolition of the statute of limitations to report sexual assault and believes that adult survivors of sexual abuse for whom the statute of limitations has expired should be afforded a two-year window of opportunity to seek civil remedies for their victimization.

I posted an article on our Facebook page recently about a free self-defense course. I hesitated sharing the article and considered paraphrasing the bullet points, however, because of the second line in the lead: “If you're female and run alone early in the morning or late at night, you could be putting yourself in a vulnerable position.”

I imagine parents would be reluctant to organize play dates with known sex offenders, putting it mildly. The internet, of course, makes location irrelevant for most activities, including video games.

 Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett announced Jan. 2 that the Commonwealth filed a lawsuit against the NCAA to revoke the sanctions leveled against Penn State University.  Gov. Corbett acknowledged the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape’s work with Penn State during his press conference regarding the sanctions.

 As the countdown to the end of another year nears its end, so too does the countdown to a final decision on the Violence Against Women Act. If a final decision isn’t made by the end of the year, a lot more things than a shiny ball in Times Square are going to drop.