Colleges and universities do their absolute best to keep students safe on campus.
Unfortunately, incidences do transpire. According to “Forbes”, one is five women experience
sexual assault in college.
Campus Safety
Predators walk among students on campus and prey on the next victim. Here is how we
can increase campus safety.
Resources
Use the safety resources and health services provided by your university. Locate the
health care center on your campus. Save the campus security telephone number on your cell
phone. Identify the locations of on-campus emergency phones. Locate the on-campus security
office or on-campus police department.
Vigilance
When walking on campus, be sure to be aware of your surroundings. Try to walk around
campus with a friend. If a friend is not available to keep you company, you can ask the
on-campus security for an escort to your car. You can also call or video-call a family member or
friend when walking around campus to be safe. If you are listening to music, try to keep one ear
available for surrounding awareness.
Caution
College is full of campus life and events where students are bound to meet new people
and make new friends. Do not be so trusting in others. These new friends need to gain your trust
as you never know someone’s true intentions. Also, be sure not to share or tag your location so a
predator can’t track you down. Keep your location online unknown.
Emergency Plan
Nowadays, memorizing phone numbers is not very common. In case of an emergency,
make sure you have contacts memorized or written down. Cell phone batteries don’t live forever
so it’s best to have contacts documented in a notebook. Also, always carry emergency cash, spare
keys, and an address to another location if it is not safe to go home. For protection, you can even
carry pepper spray or a taser attached to your car keys.
Social Settings
Women not only need to be safe on campus but also in university social settings. Here’s
how campuses can protect college women as a campus community.
Have a Plan
Go to a gathering with a group of friends who are trustworthy, responsible, and cautious.
You are all able to enjoy yourselves while also having each other’s back. Be on the same page
that each of you will watch out for one another and leave together. Let’s say there’s a change of
plans: your friend is tired and wants to go home and the rest of the group wants to stay in the
gathering. As a group, everyone should come to an agreement. One friend offers to take your
tired friend home to ensure they get home safely.
Safe Drinking
In a social setting, it is important that you protect your drink. Make sure your drink is
covered at all times. If you set your drink down, leave it and serve yourself a new drink. Also, it
is important to know your limits. There are predators who observe potential victims who want to
take advantage. Predators also use drugs that can have no taste, no smell, or no color.
Leave the Situation
Always trust your intuition. If something seems “off” about a person, conversation, or
situation, leave the situation. Make up a lie and excuse yourself. If you find someone else in an
“odd” encounter, go up to them and remove them from the situation. You could say “Oh my
gosh! I found you! I’ve been looking everywhere for you! I need you right now, let’s go!” and
pull them away. At the end of the day, you don’t owe an explanation, you want to be a good
friend or peer.
If you or a loved one have experienced sexual assualt, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at
800.656.HOPE (4673) or chat online at online.rainn.org.
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