Making the Case for Prevention

As the Director of Community Education for MOCSA, Kansas City’s comprehensive rape crisis center, I often need to “sell” the subject of rape prevention education to our various teachers, parents, and funders. It can be a frustrating experience on many levels, especially in today’s economy. Funders are more compelled to allocate money to an urgent need. Teachers feel too strapped for time and resources to fit in anything outside of basic requirements. Parents don’t want to believe that their children will ever be the perpetrators or victims of sexual assault. All of those reasons are valid reasons to ignore the issue all together. So why even try?

I tend to think the evidence should speak for itself. Studies suggest that it costs over $5.8 billion annually to address issues related to intimate partner sexual assault, physical assault and stalking. Victims often turn to drug use and alcohol to cope, leading them into a life-long cycle of pain and destruction. Countless lives are ruined by sexual assault and abuse. And even though I know that we can do amazing things to help put perpetrators behind bars and help victims turn their lives around, I also know that we CAN stamp out sexual assault completely.

When people ask me about my professional goals, I usually tell them that I’m trying to put my agency out of business. It’s a lofty goal, I know. But in my heart I must believe that if we do our jobs well enough, we can teach every child what a healthy relationship looks like, and that they all have the right to expect respect from their friends, family, and partners. If I didn’t truly believe these things, I would have to find another line of work, because what we do is not easy. But nothing worth doing ever is.

Julia Westhoff is the Director of Community Education at the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault in Kansas City. Julia has over 10 years of experience as a prevention-focused non-profit administrator.