Staying Safe on Campus: Date Rape

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Some Advice About Date Rape

Date rape, or acquaintance rape, is an increasingly common problem on college campuses all over the country, and involves people of both sexes. Rape is defined by most state criminal codes as unwanted sexual penetration"and the proof problems inherent in that definition are cause enough to spend a moment acquainting yourself with this issue and how to protect yourself from becoming involved in a date-rape situation.

First of all, go into any situation"be it a date, an evening at a bar, or a party at a fraternity"with a clear sexual limit in your own mind before you find yourself in the situation. Know what you want, and once you've decided what that is, be sure not to let flirting cross the line into the world of mixed messages that could be misunderstood by others observing your behavior. Many date-rape cases devolve into "he said, she said" situations and thus involve testimony from witnesses at a bar or club who are asked to describe what they saw.

Don't assume that another person will know what your limits are or will respect those limits unless you have clearly and assertively articulated them. Although silence does not constitute consent, silence also does not communicate a limit. Don't assume that just because you are with a friend or someone you've dated before, you don't need to set clear limits"alcohol or drugs can impair judgment no matter who is involved.

As with all things, trust your instincts. If a situation becomes uncomfortable to you, particularly if your partner is not respecting your clearly expressed limits, is attempting to cajole you into exceeding those limits, is attempting to control you, or is becoming forceful or belligerent, remove yourself from the situation immediately. Understand that if a scenario has proceeded this far, you might need to be rude, scream, or even use force to remove yourself from the situation. Don't hesitate to do so, and once you've removed yourself from the situation, seek help immediately.

We also need to remind you that in recent years, the introduction of date-rape drugs into some campus cultures has produced even more frightening scenarios. Typically these situations arise when someone buys you a drink and, before handing it to you, slips a sleeping pill, antihistamine, or recreational "club drug" like ecstasy, rohypnol ("roofies," "R2-Do-U," "rope"), GHB ("Easy Lay," "Liquid Ecstasy," "Scoop"), or ketamine ("Special K," "Vitamin K," "KO") into it. Because these drugs are usually tasteless, odorless, colorless, and fast acting, they are virtually undetectable to you, but will make you act without inhibition, often in an affectionate or sexually responsive way, and may ultimately render you incapable of thinking clearly, expressing limits, or resisting advances. Consumed in sufficient quantity, these drugs can even render you unconscious. Further, because all traces of these drugs typically leave your system within seventy-two hours and are not picked up by any routine toxicology or blood screening, their presence is often difficult to detect. In most cases, their aftereffect leaves the victim with no clear memory of what happened while the drug was active in her system"making the victim a very poor witness in any attempted prosecution.