You would think it was a normal Friday night. You would also think that nothing would go wrong because you were having a great day. You probably also thought that going out was a great idea. But sometimes these great ideas can turn into regrets.
Never go alone to a party. Never leave alone. Never wear something that is too revealing. Never take a drink from a stranger. Never leave your drink unattended. So why is it when someone follows all of these so-called "rules", something bad can still happen to them?
Anyone should be able to enjoy themselves on a night out after a long week. You should be able to dance with your friends without worrying about who could come up behind you. You should be able to wear what you want, without worrying who will think you are "asking" for it. You should be able to go out and not constantly worry about how something bad could happen to you.
No one should feel like that they could have done something differently. No one should feel like their outfit is why it happened. No one should blame themselves because they do not know what else to do. No one should be up all night beating themselves up because they just cannot understand why it happened.
It does not matter if you are male or female, no one should be sexually assaulted. So far throughout my time in college, people talk about sexual assault and how it is a growing problem. People always hope that it will never happen to them. But that is the thing, sexual assault does not have a specific type of person in mind.
It does not matter what you wear, sexual assault can still happen. It does not matter if you know the person or not, sexual assault can still happen. It does not matter if you were drinking or not, sexual assault can still happen.
We need to stop victim blaming when people try to talk about what happened to them. We need to stop using alcohol as a reason why this happened to someone. We need to stop assuming that they did not say no.
We need to realize that sexual assault is a problem.
