According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), "11.2% of all students experience rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation (among all graduate and undergraduate students)."

I will never forget the night my family sat on the couch, watching in horror while the local news channel reported of a serial rapist in Athens, Ohio. A roughly-drawn sketch of a male in his mid-twenties.

I was a senior in high school, already committed to attending Ohio University that upcoming fall. My mother asked that I follow two rules. She knew from her own college experience that mother-knows-best is all but damned after high school. Still, she asked nothing more than to keep two things in mind:

1. Don't spend time with strangers if there is alcohol involved on your end OR theirs.

2. Don't walk home alone or allow your friends to, either.

Two simple rules. I had vowed to follow these rules and enforce them amongst my friends. I felt that if not extra measures of safety, both were common sense.

As I began my first semester at Ohio University, this fell to the back of my memory. I fell in love with my campus, with my college, and the college experience. I had never felt such freedom!

Alcohol can be found on college campuses. This is not breaking news. With masses of youth exploring newfound freedoms, one can assume that experimenting with alcohol will occur.

We are young, we are dumb, and we are drunk.

Still, even then, I insisted on being walked home and making sure my friends walked home accompanied by at least one coherent person I trusted.

Rapes documented by OUPD my freshman year of college (2016/2017):

September 3, 2016. Pickering Hall

September 4, 2016. Bush Hall

October 2, 2016. Washington Hall

November 1, 2016. Sowle Hall

December 23, 2016. Kantner Hall

December 27, 2016. Wray House

January 29, 2017. Ryors Hall

February 2, 2017. Bryan Hall

February 5, 2017. Armbruster House

February 21, 2017. Boyd Hall

These are just reported rapes. There are more.

This is your roommate, repeatedly insisting that she is independent and strong. She refuses to let you walk her 10 minutes out of the way the rest of the group is going. Someone follows her for two blocks before shoving her into an alley and raping her.

This is your lab partner. Lonely, she hopes the boy she met online will provide some company. She hopes they will watch Netflix, cuddle, maybe even make out. As soon as the door shuts behind her, he rapes her.

This is your best friend. The cute guy at the bar offered to walk her home. Taking advantage of her drunken state, he rapes her.

Let's call it like it is, Bobcats. It is rape. This isn't a matter of who-is-sober-enough-to-consent that we see on alcohol edu... these are strangers attacking your friends in dark alleys. These are people thinking an invitation to the dorm room is a contract for sex. The people you see at the bar, in class, at the dining hall, in your dorm's lobby are experiencing trauma as they play scenes in their mind over and over and over, a real life horror story on repeat.

We apparently can't teach people how to NOT rape. We are wasting our fucking breath telling elementary schools not to sexualize shoulders. We are exhausting ourselves trying to explain to elders that alcohol content doesn't matter. The same country telling us that "skin is sexy" and "self-expression by clothing choice is beautiful" is the SAME country asking what we were wearing when we are sexually assaulted.

If we can't educate ourselves about consent, let's no longer leave it to consent. No more what-if. No more leaving it up to chance.

Quit letting your friends walk home alone.

NOTE:

The Survivor Advocacy Program (SAP) at OHIO provides support and advocacy services to student survivors of sexual assault, dating/domestic violence, and stalking. We work to increase survivors’ access to support and resources whether the assault/incident(s) occurred recently or in the past.

SAP provides a variety of services including (but not limited to):
-Assistance navigating medical, judicial, and legal processes and services.
-Accompaniment to appointments related to medical, judicial/conduct, and legal processes.
-Aid in accommodating housing options and academic needs.
-Support for friends and family of survivors.
-Immediate 24/7 Crisis Line/Response.
-Accompaniment to hospital for SANE/SAFE exams.

SAP is located in Lindley Hall (034/038). We accept drop in and scheduled appointments. We can be reached via our 24/7 crisis line at 740-597-SAFE (7233) or by email at survivor.advocacy@ohio.edu.
You can find additional information by visiting our website: www.ohio.edu/survivor and following us on twitter @ousap