"We wouldn't need so many damn rape poems if America had listened the first time."
That's just one of many powerful lines from "Rape Poem To End All Rape Poems," written and performed by the Rutgers University slam team. The performance piece explores rape culture, victim-blaming and what it's like to be a woman in a country where someone is sexually assaulted every two minutes.
The performers assume, perhaps correctly, that audiences are tired of hearing rape stories and fighting back against sexual assault -- but refuse to stop making their voices heard.
"We wouldn't need so many damn rape poems if our bodies were ours alone," they say. Another line that hits home: "Don't tell me she was asking for it."
Their piece ends with a bone-chilling declaration: "The rape poems will continue until there's no damn material left."
Watch the full poem in the video above.
That's just one of many powerful lines from "Rape Poem To End All Rape Poems," written and performed by the Rutgers University slam team. The performance piece explores rape culture, victim-blaming and what it's like to be a woman in a country where someone is sexually assaulted every two minutes.
The performers assume, perhaps correctly, that audiences are tired of hearing rape stories and fighting back against sexual assault -- but refuse to stop making their voices heard.
"We wouldn't need so many damn rape poems if our bodies were ours alone," they say. Another line that hits home: "Don't tell me she was asking for it."
Their piece ends with a bone-chilling declaration: "The rape poems will continue until there's no damn material left."
Watch the full poem in the video above.