Discussion about sexual assault on campus have ramped up recently following a tweet about a conversation overhead at the student center last week. The tweet in questions described a conversation between a few male students, with one student commenting on a women’s looks and saying how he would like to get her drunk, but not too drunk, over the weekend.
Conversations like this probably happen all the time, and we have all probably heard talk like this. Talk like this, however commonplace it may be, is describing rape and sexual assault. Any scenario where an individual is unable to give clear consent to sexual activity, is assault. Consent can only be given if the individual is sober, conscious, of age and asked directly without being under duress.
When people think of rape, they usually think of a stranger assaulting a women in back alley or something, but rape is much more commonly committed by friends, acquaintances or significant others. A lot of people would probably shrug off the above conversation, in their minds that is just what happens in college, people get drunk and have sex. The Rocket staff believes that we, as a campus community need to stop normalizing this type of behavior. Rape it rape, no mater if it happens in a back alley, at a party or in a dorm room.
The emergency call boxes around campus are great when someone feels unsafe while walking around at night, but there are no call boxes for when someone feels uncomfortable at a party, or when someone has passed out and is at the mercy of their attacker. Us fellow students need to be those emergency calls boxes. We need to call out unacceptable behavior when we see it. No matter if you feel uncomfortable doing so or if you do not think it is your place to step in or even if it is your friend taking advantage of someone. Nothing will change without action. It is our duty as a community to let it be known that this is unacceptable and that it will not be tolerated.
The Rocket staff believes that it is our responsibility as members of this community to educate ourselves on what is and is not sexual assault and how we can take action to end it. If you think that Slippery Rock is different and that this could not possibly be a problem here, just think about how many women you know that have ever been taken advantage of at a party or think about any guys you know that have talked about getting a girl drunk or wanting to get a girl drunk. Sexual assault is a problem everywhere and here is no exception. It is our duty to make a stand and make sure that talk like this and this behavior is not welcome at The Rock.
