On college campuses across the country, The Red Zone is defined as the time of vulnerability for sexual assaults on freshmen, ranging from their first days on campus until Thanksgiving break.
Rape: that humiliating misfortune we read about in the news, but feel too untouchable to experience ourselves. Let us assure you that you will never be untouchable by such tragedies, but that you can lower your risk by being aware of the signs and prepared to react against them.
Although rape is not selective to only first-year students, The Red Zone is. For many freshmen, The Red Zone is the time in which they’re experiencing life on their own for the very first time. Going out on school nights, drinking with friends, and getting to class on time is not monitored by parents, or even RAs.
Universities across the country – including West Virginia University, Longwood University, the University of Alaska Anchorage, the University of Dayton, and San Diego State University – are preparing students for The Red Zone through online articles, seminars on campus, and improved revisions of university policies on sexual assaults. For most colleges, it is part of their mission statements to ensure students feel safe and protected at their schools, and preparing them for The Red Zone and supporting survivors are parts of that duty.
In an effort to inform students, especially freshmen, of the precautions to take in order to avoid the possibility of being sexually assaulted, Public Safety and the Capital University Police Department gave a presentation to students at the beginning of this school year.
“Be responsible,” Scott D. Hunkle, Sergeant of the Department of Public Safety said. “You should be 21 to drink, but we know most students will not wait until they’re 21. What I try to explain to them is bring a buddy with you, bring friends to watch out for you. Don’t go home with strangers.”
It’s almost insulting to think about how many times we’ve heard these same warnings – on the news, at school, from our parents – since we hit puberty. These rules are ingrained in our minds, and for the most part, we follow them religiously. Even when they’re followed, they don’t always work.
“On the flip side, what I tell the males is, and a lot of males don’t realize this, in the Ohio Revised Code, is that just because they’re intoxicated, even if she’s drunk and willing, that’s still rape,” Hunkle said. “It’ll cost you 25 years to life and your college career. It will ruin you, so what I tell everybody is to just be responsible, and it’s not just male-female; it can also be male-male and female-female.”
Rape is the least reported of all violent crimes.
During the calendar year of 2014, there have been 2 reported incidences of sexual assault on Capital’s campus so far according to records at Public Safety. Keep in mind that, according to a national report in 2007, only about 11% of college women who experience rape actually report it to the police. If this number stands true, then there were likely about 18 sexual assaults on females on campus so far in 2014.
No sexual assaults have been reported yet this academic year, so let’s keep it that way. If you are sexually assaulted, the most important goals are to escape safely, find the nearest health center for rape kit tests, and call Public Safety at (614) 236-6666 or Bexley Police at (614) 559-4444.
