'Asking for It': Analyzing rape culture -- and what can change it

'Asking For It' by Kate Harding
'Asking For It' by Kate Harding
Courtesy of Da Capo Lifelong Books

Every seven minutes, someone in America commits a rape.

That's one of the stark statistics behind Kate Harding's new book, "Asking For It: The Alarming Rise of Rape Culture — and What We Can Do About It."

Harding analyzes everything from how law enforcement investigates rape cases to how sex is portrayed on TV. She also delves into the issue of sexual assault on college campuses. Many colleges and universities have been in the news for mishandling students' rape allegations while others have made headlines for instituting affirmative consent policies.

The University of Minnesota rolled out its new policy defining sexual consent in September. It's based on the idea that truly consensual relations require active signals from the participants, not just the absence of objections. Student government leaders pushed for the change last year, saying the U's former policy, which called for "mutually understood" consent, was too vague.

To discuss how American culture treats the act of rape, victims of rape, and perpetrators of rape, Harding joined MPR News' Kerri Miller for the Friday Roundtable. Jamie Millard, the co-executive director of Pollen, and Traci Thomas-Card the prevention program coordinator for The Aurora Center at the University of Minnesota, also joined the conversation.

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