Teens Stage Anti-Rape Protest

It was a noisy rally, and that’s how the students wanted it.

Marching and carrying signs Thursday at a school yard at James Monroe High School in North Hills, they shouted, “Is there ever an invitation to rape? No.” Many motorists on Nordhoff Street honked in support.

About 80 students and rape crisis center supporters gathered to draw attention to what they say is a lack of sufficient rape prevention education at schools.

The demonstration was triggered by the Dec. 1 gang rape of a 16-year-old student at nearby Birmingham High School in Van Nuys. Police say the girl was sexually assaulted by at least six male students after she had passed out drinking alcohol during a daytime party at a student’s home.

Last week, Nathaniel Sanchez, 18, and three boys ages 14, 16 and 17 were charged with sexually assaulting the girl. Police said they all attend Birmingham High.

The organizers are calling on the Los Angeles Unified School District to set aside one day when all students can learn more about rape and its consequences. Although people of any age can be raped, organizers pointed out that victims are disproportionately women under 18.

“The district needs to provide the leadership. It has to show it supports young people living lives free of sexual violence,” said Leah Aldridge, director of youth violence prevention with the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women, a private nonprofit group. The commission and the Valley Trauma Center sponsored the event.

“The district has to help change a culture that still says females do invite rape, that she’s at fault, that she asked for it,” Aldridge said.

Aldridge wants the school district to make the anti-rape session mandatory for all students. Young people would be taught about how to avoid becoming victims of sexual assault, learn the myths and realities about rape, and discuss how survivors often are racked by shame and depression afterward.

Los Angeles Board of Education member Julie Korenstein said she would support the idea.

Organizers said they chose Monroe High School for the demonstration because they didn’t want students or staff at Birmingham to feel that the assault was somehow their fault, Aldridge said.

She said her group already talks to 10th-graders at Monroe each year about rape. In addition, administrators are working with school clubs at Monroe to organize information assemblies about rape prevention for students, said Assistant Principal Thane F. Opfell.

Although Monroe has openly dealt with the subject of sexual assault, the topic needs to be taught districtwide, said Karen Navarro, a 17-year-old senior at Monroe.

Reaction at Monroe to the recent assault made Karen realize more education is needed, she said. “A lot of students and teachers felt it was partially her fault--that’s why we need that education,” she said. “It’s not a Birmingham issue; it’s not a Monroe issue; it’s a human issue.”