Athletes for Sexual Responsibility

Athletes for Sexual Responsibility, 2004, 26 minutes

Sexual assault and the number of athletes involved in group assaults over the last year have raised questions about the exemplary status athletes hold in society. Using athletes as actors, the University of Maine has produced a videotape portraying a series of three brief vignettes.

The first vignette, The Date, portrays a male and female whose assumptions and poor communication at the end of the date leads to acquaintance rape.

In the second skit, The Morning After, a male involved in a gang rape at a party the night before is bragging to his friend. The friend goes along with his buddy’s actions, making the erroneous assumption that the woman must have wanted or invited the assault.

The final skit, Talking With Friends, involves two friends talking with the victim of the gang rape, but they are not supportive. They question her motives and her dress and suggest that somehow she encouraged the attack.

At critical points in each vignette, facilitators talk with the audience and generate suggestions for how the skits can be reworked to end in a positive way.