September
5, 2008
College
and Sexual Assault
Here in Ontario secondary students are
already back at school but for most university students
September 8th will be the first day of class. Media
reports about on campus sexual assaults usually focus
on attacks by strangers but what we don't typically
hear about are the much more common incidences of acquaintance
rape. According to RAINN,
college age women are at the highest risk for being
sexually assaulted (four times more likely to be assaulted).
U.S. Department of Justice data shows that 34% of rapes
and 45% of attempted rapes among college students are
on campus.
Via the SAFER
blog I landed on an enlightening article at Kent State’s
News Net about how "the
first few weeks of a college student's freshman and
sophomore year pose the highest risk for rape,"
specifically acquaintance rape. "Statistically,
sexual assaults occur in a residence, either the victim's
own residence or someone else's," Alice Ickes,
crime prevention officer for the Kent State Police Department,
says. "They tend to occur when someone comes as
a social call or in a party situation." RAINN also
has new
back-to-school tips for students, to help them stay
safe.
A Scarleteen
article on dealing
with rape recommends making "your personal
limits clear, and do not be afraid or shy to do so.
The biggest contributors to sex crimes in this culture
are silence and shame." Sex ed site Scarleteen
also has a fantastic article about what
guys can do to prevent rape. The Men
Can Stop Rape organization, which mobilizes young
men "to work as allies with women in preventing
rape," also has a terrific list of free handouts
to download on supporting
survivors, rape as a men's issue, male survivors and
more.
Ultimately, two of the best things you
can do for yourself and your friends is to watch out
for each other and to challenge societal attitudes (eg.
a mass media that routinely depicts women as sexual
objects) that make sexual assault more likely to occur.
The last thing young women should have to worry about
while settling in to their new lives at college is being
sexually assaulted! Let's help make college campuses
(and our schools, homes and communities) a safe place
for everyone.
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