In light of recent conversation about the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses (that’s right, not just Colby), I thought I would dedicate this blog entry to talking about how to stay safe.
If you didn’t read Desiree Shayer’s post on the Civil Discourse from Monday, I suggest you go through your gmail trash and look at it. Like most victims of sexual assault, Desiree did not do anything wrong. However, someone on this campus drugged her drink. Desiree ended up spending a week in the hospital recovering.
Some people might think that the best way to avoid being in Desiree’s situation is to make sure you see what goes into your drink. However, as someone on the discourse so wisely said, “women are not robots. We may slip once or twice.” And even if you don’t slip, there is no way to guarantee that you know what is in your drink. So it is completely unfair to blame the victim for not looking at what went into her drink because as far as the law is concerned, slipping for a quick second is not against the law. It is against the law to drug someone’s drink. Therefore, the only person at fault is the person who committed the crime of putting the drug in the drink. It is that simple.
Although there is absolutely no way to guarantee that you will not be a victim of sexual assault, there are things you can do to reduce your chances and to make it clear that we as women will not tolerate such behavior.
1) Take care of yourself and your friends. Make sure that you watch out for each other while you’re out partying so that in the event that something happens, you can help each other.
2) As I said, there is no guarantee that nothing bad will happen, but make sure to look at what is going into your drink. And what is going into your friend’s drink. Pay attention to each other so that if you see someone with symptoms of being drugged, you can get help.
3) If you see something happening, say something. Stand up for yourself and for your friends.
4) If you or someone you know is assaulted, do not accept ANY blame. The only person at fault is the perpetrator. Not the victim. Ever.
What do you think? What can we do to be safe and to make it clear that we will not tolerate any sexual assault?
Picture Source:
www.casamexilio.com