Personal Injury Law

All in good fun?

By Megan Roth

Yesterday I discussed the online risks of social networking, but I neglected to mention the risks of real-life social networking. You know, the wild and crazy parties college students are notorious for throwring.

Generally speaking, college parties occur for the sole purpose so that everyone in attendance can have a good time. In most cases, the in intentions behind the parties are harmless; yet, their consequences can be downright dangerous - sometimes even deadly.

Though most parties are thrown for clean, good fun, there's always someone who has to spoil it. Like the individual walking around with a pocketful of roofies. Okay, so maybe his pocket's not full, but that's sort of a mute point, because all it takes is one (heck, even half of one will do) to put the average woman in such a state that she's unable to ward off someone's unwanted presence.

But say the presence isn't unwanted. For the most part, students don't go to these parties alone. Most implement the buddy system and go with friends, thus making them safe, right? Wrong. Did you know that over 80% of rape victims know their attacker? So even if they are with a friend, that doesn't necessarily mean their safe. The crazy frat party where the music's bumping and everyone's inhibitions are lowered presents a wonderful opportunity for someone to slip a teeny-tiny little pill in the bottom of a 'friend's' cup or bottle in order to take their friendship to the next level.

Hey, it's all in good fun, right? After all, it's a PART-AY, and we all know it's easy to get caught up in the moment and do something crazy. Unfortunately, however, the purveyors of such actions aren't acting in the moment. In fact, 90% of rapes are premeditated. Awful, isn't it? What's worse, is that less than five percent of women who are raped report it to the police (meaning an even lower percentage of the assailants is prosecuted). Why, if we know these rapes are occurring, are the attackers not being prosecuted? Because the victim often doesn't want to speak out as the result of fear and embarrassment, or because the victim fears jeopardizing their relationship with their attacker, so they blame themselves.

But the truth is, it isn't their fault. Regardless of whether or not they led the attacker on (and let's be honest, sometimes they do), no means no. So even if the victim was over-the-top flirtatious, if she said no at any time and intercourse occurred anyways, she was raped.

Like anything else, there's never a guarantee that rape can be prevented; however, individuals should remain aware of themselves, their belongings, and their drinks at all time. As a recent graduate, I'll attest that this isn't always the first thing on one's mind when socializing at a party (to be completely honest, it was never even the fifth thing on my mind! But I got lucky..I never encountered a situation where I felt my safety was jeopardized, as so many young women do).

The statistics concerning rape aren't in our favor to start with (women between the ages of 16 and 24 experience rape four times more often than women of other age groups, thus making college females a prime target), so help yourself out and keep an eye on your drink and don't accept drinks from strangers (I know, 90% of rapes are acquaintance rapes, but it doesn't hurt to be cautious.) And remember: roofies aren't the only drug out there that can disorient someone enough to make them vulnerable, so watch out for others. Who knows? Maybe, in turn, they'll watch out for you (or your daughter, sister, wife, or other friend).

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on September 19, 2008 (boomark / email).