The two high-school football players accused in the Steubenville, Ohio, rape trial were found guilty Sunday.

Ma’lik Richmond and Trent Mays’ victim, a 16-year-old girl, was dragged to different house parties in front of various bystanders and raped. No one intervened to stop the assault. The defendants further publicly dehumanized the girl by publishing the assault on websites like Instagram and YouTube, without considering the repercussions of their actions.

The incident in Steubenville reveals how deeply embedded rape culture is within society. But it also provides an opportunity to take more active initiatives to end it. This conversation can be started by teaching young men about their roles in ending rape.

Zerlina Maxwell, a democratic strategist, recently came under fire from conservative media pundits for suggesting that teaching men not to rape is an effective way to stop the action.

Maxwell proposed instructing young men against rape by making sure they know what “legal consent” entails, and seeing women as human beings instead of sexual objects. Creating an open environment for victims of rape to come forward and learning about bystander intervention are also ways to address rape culture.

It’s impossible to know what went through the minds of Richmond and Mays during the assaults, as they seemingly believed they would not be held accountable for their actions. The defendants joked about how “dead” and “raped” the victim was in a YouTube video they posted.

Despite the overwhelming evidence of the assaults found through social media, many members of the community sided with the athletes. Law enforcement officials were also accused of covering up for the boys, who were two talented athletes.

Too often the discussion starts with what the victim was doing wrong, how much she was drinking, what she was wearing or how late she was out. These were some of the questions the victim of the Steubenville trial was confronted with. These questions are problematic because they assume the victim was responsible for the crimes committed against her.

Rape culture is evident in the CNN report following the verdict. The report was sympathetic to Richmond and Mays. It described how the verdict ruined the athletes’ “promising” lives, instead of how their direct actions would have consequences.

The report also failed to discuss how the assaults altered the life of the victim forever, a point that deserves more attention.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in recent years, approximately 91 percent of rape and sexual assault victims were female, while 99 percent of the offenders were male.

The Steubenville rape demonstrates the role men and bystanders play in perpetuating rape culture.

Men can be taught not to rape and women should not need to adjust their behavior to accommodate these misogynistic acts. If society is committed to ending violent acts toward women, then the conversation should begin with what the perpetrator is doing wrong.

Rahimon Nasa is a sophomore magazine journalism and international relations major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @rararahima.

Published on March 18, 2013 at 1:01 am