SEXUAL ASSAULT

It can happen to anyone at any time. People who commit rape don’t discriminate due to age, race, religion or gender.

Most sexual assaults happen between people who know each other. In college nearly 90% of all sexual assaults occur between acquaintances.

Ninety percent of all campus rapes occur when alcohol has been used by either the assailant or the survivor.

Are you sensing a trend?

For more sobering statistics about student sexual misconduct go to:

http://www.metrac.org/new/faq_sex.htm
http://www.houseofdragonsdojo.com/svs.htm

What, me report?
Very few sexual assaults are reported to the police. Acquaintance rape is particularly underreported. Why?

• Embarrassment
• Shame
• Fear
• Don’t know who to tell
• Self blame
• Drinking or using drugs at the time
• Don’t want to get him into trouble
• Too much to lose

All perfectly good reasons, but the flaw in all is: the crime never gets addressed. The perpetrator has no consequence for his/her damaging action.

Reporting is empowering.

FACT: Women who report often transition from feeling like a “victim” to feeling like a “survivor” more quickly.

If you are a student at CSUF go to the following web site for help in knowing what to do if a sexual assault occurs.

http://campusapps.fullerton.edu/womencenter/sexual_assault.aspx

SEXUAL ASSAULT IS A CRIME COMMITTED AGAINST A PERSON’S BODY AND SOUL
IT IS NEVER THE VICTIM’S FAULT
SAYING “NO” or “STOP” IS ENOUGH
DRINKING TOO MUCH OR USING A DRUG DOES NOT GIVE SOMEONE
PERMISSION TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOU

Danger Signals

It is possible to be proactive with your safety.
Pay attention to your intuition, if a situation feels unsafe it might be. Your best bet is to listen to your internal warning mechanism and get to a place where you feel safe.

Sometimes people give clues about their real personality before their first aggressive act. This web site has some great tips.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2020120_date-rapist-profile.html

What Can I do if someone is coming on too strong?
Plan ahead and think about what you might do in awkward situations.
If you do, you will have a repertoire of options ready to draw from in case of and unexpected event. Look at these web sites for a place to start.

http://ub-counseling.buffalo.edu/confrontrape.shtml

http://ub-counseling.buffalo.edu/rapeprevent.shtml

http://ub-counseling.buffalo.edu/alternatives.shtml