The cover of Time Magazine that read Rape, The Crisis in Higher Education, was laying on a desktop as I entered into the waiting room and it caught my eye. I grabbed the magazine and opened it to search for the article and sure enough it was torn out. So, I went on Amazon and purchased the magazine and patiently waited to see what rape problems in college that Eliza Gray was writing about and was a big enough story to make the cover of Time.
Eliza Gray reported, “The truth is, for young women, particularly those who are 18 or 19 years old, just beginning their college experience, America’s campuses are hazardous places. Research shows that 1 in 5 women is the victim of an attempted or completed sexual assault during college.”
I did some research on my own and found this site and their research shows that one in four college women have survived rape or attempted rape! This is a disturbing and alarming number and I feel more needs to be done with education and prevention. Even though some discount the details of the studies and what the exact percentage is, my opinion is that the general consensus is a much bigger problem than society is aware of and search for your self to see all the articles about it. Think the Ivy Leagues are immune? There are even problems at Harvard.
You may ask yourself this: “ Is our society producing more young men that are rapists?” Ms. Gray answered this with, “ The best research suggests that a large proportion of the worst offenses are committed by a relatively small group of students – sexual predators who find college an alarmingly auspicious environment both for targeting women and escaping punishment.”
I couldn’t agree more with Gray’s results because Predators, aka Chameleons, damage many lives and are excellent at getting away with crimes. Predators usually have a pretty serious history. The following is from the book Predators by Anna Salter, “She interviewed 591 sex offenders that had a combined 195,000 victims! That’s 330 victims, on average, per predator! That’s enough victims to fill the Louisiana Superdome two and one-half times!” If Predators aren’t conniving then how do they get away with that many crimes?
So add to the mix going to a new college and partying with strangers. “Hey! My name is Nate and would you like some punch?” Alcohol is usually involved in rape crimes and how many young women or men can handle their alcohol very well or at all? And don’t forget the increasingly and ever popular date rape drug. This is a dangerous playground for young women and even young men. The one thing all of my reading on predators has found is that predators are intelligent, charming, conniving and they blend into their surroundings. They are excellent at reading body language and know how to use psychological tactics.
Here are some ideas to consider to help prevent rape on campuses:
- I want to say don’t drink alcohol, but for many this is like telling a child not to step in a water puddle. So I will offer advice for those who still choose to drink alcohol: do not accept drinks from strangers and always keep your drink covered and with you at all times.
- When going to an event or party always have one or two people that will be completely sober and have them watch over their friends. This means the sober people will not accept a drink (even non alcoholic) from someone at the party because that can be drugged as well. The sober drivers will have to bring their own beverage in and keep it covered at all times.
- The sober people need to keep track of the other friends and will not let anyone go into a secluded room with someone else if they are drinking. You don’t need a college degree to realize that nothing good comes from a drunk encounter with someone and who wants STD’s anyway? Call me old fashioned, but you don’t want that kind of life-long friend.
- Trust your intuition. If you feel something is wrong, it likely is. Unlike worry, your intuition always guides you. Remove yourself from the situation and get to a safe space as quickly as you can. If you get a bad feeling about someone or a situation then leave.
- Attend parties with friends you can trust. Agree to ‘look out’ for one another. Always leave with a group, rather than alone or with someone you don’t know very well.
- Respect the person when she or he says “No” to sexual activity and comply. “No” does not mean “Yes”; “No” means “No”. A tactic of a predator is to disregard your “No”. You need to have strong body language and command presence when you say “No!” and show you mean it.
- If you see someone in a vulnerable position, find a non-threatening way to help. Don’t ignore a potential case of rape and get involved if you believe someone is at risk.
- Take self-defense training so you know how a predator operates and learn how to defend yourself. Learn how to fight and take a martial arts class.
- Above all respect your body and your life. This article has some great advice on sexual education relating to rape.
- If a rape does occur then you need to report it to the campus officials and police immediately. The reason these predators are not caught is because so many do not report the rape and it happens over and over to others.
This article made me think about my college years and the girls that I personally knew that were raped at parties by one man or a group of men. The cases I knew about were never reported to any officials and I learned about them later. My circle of friends were very close and we made a pact that there would always be a sober person that drove and watched over the rest of the girls and it worked. I’m so thankful that I trusted my intuition back then and I had great friends to protect one another.
Please share this article with anyone you know that is going to college and if you are attending college this year please contact us for a FREE DVD on personal protection training here. *Update- We have given 50 DVD’s away already.
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Beth is the founder of Pretty Loaded. On a mission to install strength, awareness, and confidence, Beth began her journey as an educator and National speaker after a close encounter with a would-be predator. She has trained thousands of people in person, and through her online training and videos around the world. Her safety videos reach millions globally! She is responsible for starting the National Situational Awareness Day and this was approved by the registrar of the National Day Calendar. Beth has been featured on Consumer Reports, Reddit, Yahoo!Finance, Elite Readers, BuzzFeed, ViralNova, and many more networks. Beth loves spending her time reading, playing tennis, cooking, and painting. She is married and has four wonderful girls, a supermicro pig named Clover Smalls, and lives on an organic produce farm and vineyard.
