People, specifically woman, are told never to set their drink down at a party, or to never take a drink from someone you don't know. As a woman in the Greek community I have been told, "oh don't go there the guys are creepy," or lines along, "they're known for drugging girls." Whether or not these lines are true they are still being said and believed. These lines are way to common not only at my college campus but college campuses across the country. Many people are not well informed about the danger of being date raped, or sexually assaulted; sometimes woman don't even know it happened to them until it's too late. Date rape drugs can be fatal if mixed with alcohol and coming into college this is terrifying because of this because you want to believe this would never happen to you, but there are bad people in the world and you need to be aware of your surroundings.
During her freshman year of college a woman has a 1 in 10 chance of being raped or sexually assaulted and a 1 in 7 chance of being raped of sexually assaulted while under the influence. During their freshman year of college 15% of women were raped due to drugs and/or alcohol. 1 in 13 college students say they had been drugged, or suspect that they were drugged. Spiking someones drink can lead to sexual assaults and severe injuries. Woman who have been drugged, or suspect that they have been drugged, are at a higher risk to be raped and taken advantage of. When reading the statistics I felt sick; I felt sick because why do people, especially men, believe that it is ok to slip something into a woman's drink in order to sleep with her. Even drinking so much to the point where you "black out" is considered being drugged because your body is being altered so much to the point where you are not in control of yourself and not in the right state of mind to give consent.
Although men don't commonly talk about how they were sexually abused, drugged, assaulted, it is still happens. It is sad that in todays society things like date rape drugs, assault, and other major problems are occurring. Woman, and men, should not be afraid or have to worry about what they're drinking or who they are hanging out with. Since 2007 there has been an incline of 5% of rape cases, although 5% isn't a big percentage it is still a percentage greater than zero. Woman in the age group of 18 to 24 are three times more likely to get sexually assaulted. The problem is that woman who have been assualted or drugged don't report their cases to the police, and due to this, incidents continue occur. To speak out and step up to authorities you are helping take one step on your campus, or town, to end sexual assault, date raping, and abuse. Here at Washington State University there are several resources you can use to seek out help. You can report cases to the WSU Office for Equal Opportunity, http://oeo.wsu.edu/reporting/, or call the WSU Wellness Center at 335-9355, or call the Pullman Police. It is our job as humans, and as a community, to help those around us and prevent incidents.
