Violence against women isn’t only a women’s issue – a graduate student is working to get men involved as well.

Jeff Cullen, coordinator of an awareness program on campus called Visible Allies, is passionate about making a difference in the world, especially during April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

Cullen, graduate student in educational leadership and policy studies, is encouraging men to stop by the Margaret Sloss Women’s Center and sign a pledge to end rape – 172 men signed the petition Tuesday.

“We have a responsibility as a community of men,” Cullen said.

Cullen is building a coalition of men that are active in ending violence and stopping rape.

“We are hoping to identify men that would be interested in engaging in anti-rape and anti-violence initiatives, dialoguing about personal and social change, and generally making the world a better place,” Cullen said.

The term “Visible Allies” refers to men who are against violence toward women. Although the program’s main focus is to raise awareness, it also seeks to guide men to a level of action that might otherwise be invisible to peers.

Cullen wants men to know what it really means to be a “good guy.”

Visible Allies is selling flowers from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday at the Sloss House to help raise money to buy Mary Greeley Hospital a colposcope, an instrument used to collect evidence in a post-rape exam.

Penny Rice, Women’s Center coordinator, said as long as the unspoken threat of potential assault exists, women remain on guard.

“It affects how men and women interact,” Rice said. “Violence erodes the trust women have with men. This erosion inhibits the development of happy, healthy relationships.”