Nationally, a conservative estimate is that, under current conditions, 20-30 percent of girls now 12-years old will suffer a future violent sexual attack. Data indicate that the average American woman is just as likely to be raped as she is to have cancer or to undergo a divorce. Yet the latter two traumas receive considerably more attention than sexual assault. The difficulty of accurately documenting the prevalence of violence against women also requires attention. The connection between the social conditions of patriarchy that generate sexual violence and the social structures that hide this violence and impede efforts to stop it must be exposed. American society has typically viewed sexual violence as a woman's problem. Findings in this paper suggest that men must be included in the recognition of sexual violence as a social problem. That sexual violence is so pervasive indicates that American culture considers it a normal aspect of male-female interaction. Footnotes are provided.