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Changing the world, one man at a time

  • Published
  • By Danielle Gregory
  • Tinker Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE --  "Every 12 seconds somewhere in the United States a man abuses the woman he has promised to love and every 2 minutes in the U.S. a man rapes a woman,
usually someone he knows," said Ben Atherton- Zeman.
   Mr. Zeman has 17 years of experience working at domestic violence programs and rape crisis centers. He presented his play "Voices of Men" to a standing
room only base theatre group on April 18 in recognition of April being Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
   Mr. Zeman travels all over doing the play for military groups, schools and communities.
   "It's been an honor to do this play at so many military instillations, I'm not a member of the military but I am a patriot," said Mr. Zeman. The play uses humor and celebrity impressions to bring topics to audiences of all ages concerning: sexual assault, consent, domestic violence, sexual harassment, dating violence and objectification.
   Mr. Zeman said the motivation for being an advocate of women was due to the fact that in college he both met and dated women who had been sexually assaulted the first few times a victim shared stories with him it changed his whole life and he now has a
passion to work to stop violence against women. 
"Most men would not ever use physical force but a lot of guys would use coercion and pressure, all of those are rapes just as sure as using physical weapons
are," stated Mr. Zeman.
   "Most guys have a mother, sister, daughter, wife and/or girlfriend in their life and if one in three women are going to be a victim in their lifetime which ones do they want it to be; obviously none of the above," said Mr. Zeman. 
   "So many guys care about women in our life that we need to intervene in everyday cases against these acts against women."
   At the end of the presentation, Mr. Zeman spoke about a situation that struck close to home for Tinker members.
   "I want to extend my condolences to the Thorson family, hopefully if we raise our voices violence like this will not happen as frequently," said Mr. Zeman.  The play was dedicated in the memory of the Thorson children.
   During the presentation, Michelle Loughlin, Tinker's Sexual Assault Response coordinator, reminded Tinker members they have two options for reporting a sexual assault.
   Members are able to file a restricted or an unrestricted report.  Restricted reporting lets military members report allegations of sexual assault without investigation as long as they report to a sexual response coordinator, health care provider, trained victim advocate or chaplain.
  The other option is an unrestricted report that would entail law enforcement stepping in and an investigation taking place.  
   If you have been the victim of a sexual assault you are encouraged to call the Tinker Sexual Assault Prevention and Response team at 734-SARC, which is a 24 hour hot line.