Sexual assault is anything but uncommon and like it or not, it affects us all. It's not only a moral or ethical issue -- it's an economic issue that has not gone completely unnoticed. A single act of violence against a woman may result in complete absence from work..... For companies specifically, it impacts their bottom line.

The story of Rehtaeh Parsons, a 17-year-old from Nova Scotia who hanged herself on April 4, a year and a half after being raped, is disturbingly familiar. And there were bystanders, plenty of bystanders, who had any number of opportunities to step in and do something, but none of them did. And, in many ways, you are one of these bystanders, too. I am, too. We all are.

The real horror of Amiel's column is not that she wrote it, or even that it was published in a mainstream magazine. It's that she is merely putting to paper what is thought by so many. There are people who believe that intoxication, even unconsciousness, means yes.

The fact that my first incidence of being sexualized was when I was four tells us something about our society. In my case, I've been lucky to be raised by staunch feminists, but even with my dad and mom's messages of "YOU DO YOU, GIRL," I was still smothered by the rape culture that dictates our social values.Rape culture pits us against each other. But the thing is, some of the most outspoken and disgusted people about the Steubenville trial have been men I look up to and men I am friends with. The women? Well, we're tough broads -- we have to be.