Preventing Sexual Assault on College Campuses

My intentions of sharing this aren’t meant to scare you or stop you from furthering your studies into college; I just want to share some methodologies that would prevent you from being part of this percentage!

Colleges are very resourceful for students but what people don’t tell you about colleges is how often sexual assault occurs. More than 50% of sexual assault occurs in August-November, commonly known as the “red zone”. 

Why is this?

The first few weeks of college are prime for a lot of active parties with alcohol. Freshmen lack many friends to warn them about safety precautions, so they’ll easily leave their drink unattended or try to be likable, so they’re dense towards forced advances people might try on them. 

How could I avoid this?

Make friends

It might be easier to use social media as a tool: to find people who are also attending that school; that way, once you arrive on campus you have some friends already that you can talk to! Friend groups will help you stay safe; look out for you if you get too drunk at parties, and help you reach home.

Never be alone

During the daytime, there are always students around, so it’s fine to travel between buildings to class, but if it’s the night, you shouldn’t be alone. Typically, there is security patrolling throughout, but if your campus has an escort service, you should use it! 

Never leave your drink unattended 

Unfortunately, drinks getting drugged is a common occurrence, and it should never be left alone in any circumstance. If you have to leave it for a while, give it to a trusted friend. 

Protection

If any situation occurs where you’re encountering an aggressive person, you should have some form of security with either pepper spray or Tasers.

Location

You should avoid sharing your location on social media; it’s preferable to share it amongst close friends or relatives.

What’s the impact after being assaulted?

Health

Assault can cause emotional and physical health alterations for you. Physical being pregnancy or STDs or emotional ones like eating disorders or anxiety. It’s hard for survivors to get involved in anything romantic again, and it’s very frustrating.

Academic

Survivors are so distraught and unmotivated that they end up dropping or skipping classes because they might encounter their perpetrator. 34.1% of students who’ve been sexually assaulted have dropped out of their university, mostly from the shame that they felt: like they’ve brought this to themself. 

Social

Many students feel so much embarrassment sharing it amongst people that they will allow their perpetrator to continue being in their friend group or family circle. There is also fear that they wouldn’t believe them and might lean to their perpetrator’s side. They’ll also restrict their exposure to extracurricular activities and isolate themself more.

Legal

Now let’s say the victim decides to take legal action, even if the student wins they’ll still feel degraded. They’re sharing every detail that happened the day of their assault in front of a sum of people, and sometimes nothing even happens to the perpetrator, and it will feel like it was for nothing.  

What should I do after I was assaulted?

Stay safe

Remove your safe in any situation that will allow you to come in contact with the perpetrator.

Call NSAH

The National Sexual Assault Hotline (1-800-656-4673) offers trained professionals who’ve dealt with this before and can help you navigate qualified health facilities to provide medical care and conduct testing to help you get justice from the perpetrator.

Reach out to campus authorities 

Let them know (campus police or healthcare) as soon as possible what happened so that if you do pursue legal action, you will have some resources that show you’ve reached out for help.

Make adjustments

You’re not obligated to be in the same class or have to be afraid to walk alone on campus all the time. Make changes that will make you feel safe, whether that is a single bedroom, changing classes, or even requesting security escorts; anything that works better for you is always better.