1991 BrotherPeace Award: Dr. Mary Koss

Mary Koss’ award was at the  Sixteenth Annual Conference on Men and Masculinity in Tucson, Arizona. June 7, 1991.

I am delighted to inform you that you have been chosen as the first-ever recipient of the BrotherPeace Award by the Ending Men’s Violence Task Group of the National Organization For Men Against Sexism, in thanks for your outstanding academic contributions to anti-rape activism.  The EMV Task Group coordinates the activities of men working nation-wide on projects ranging from counseling men who batter to community education to end sexual assault.  On the third Saturday in October each year we sponsor BrotherPeace: An International Day of Actions to End Men’s Violence, which has reached some 50 cities in 13 countries. 

Although academicians and activists sometimes find ourselves at odds with each other, in both the feminist women’s and profeminist men’s communities, your 1985 survey of the prevalence of rape and the incidence of rape behavior and attitudes among men stands as shining example of academic work that has been an indispensable tool for activists.  When I first began trying to convince men that they could help stop rape because it was their peers who were committing these crimes, I had to rely on rough estimates (60% to 75%) of what percentage of rapes were committed by acquaintances (i.e. normal men — the sort of men women typically date).  Your survey of  6,159 students on 32 college campuses has dramatically enhanced the  authority of such arguments used by  myself and my co-workers nation-wide as we talk to groups ranging from fraternities to legislative committees, and thus has increased our effectiveness.

Jack Straton
Co-Chair of NOMAS and coordinator of the NOMAS Task Group on Child Custody.