Personal behavior:
- Don’t get drunk or high. That makes it a lot easier for an attacker to overpower you. Furthermore, when you get drunk, you might wind up in a state where you end up consenting or encouraging sex, when if you were sober, you would have nothing of the sort.
- Self-defense classes, so you can rip the guy’s eyes out.
- Avoid rape centers like frat parties, VIP rooms, backstage at concerts.
- Don’t bring people back to your house, or go to their house, until you get to know them better. (5-10 dates at least)
- If you know you are going to get intoxicated, then wear rape-resistant shorts and/or other gear to make the attacker’s job harder.
- If it’s legal, carry the mace, sharp objects, etc. in your purse.
- Get a friend (male ideally) to escort you, and make sure it is clear what your boundaries are going to be for the night.
- If you get rumours that somebody is an offender on the prowl, report it and avoid that person. This includes you as a child going to Child Protective Services and other shelters instead of staying in a dangerous situation.
Related:
- If you do get raped or otherwise attacked, go directly, WITHOUT SHOWERING OR CLEANING UP, to the hospital or the police to get the rape kit taken. Grab any evidence related to the attack – clothes, bloody linens, anything that can tie the attacker to the crime. This will allow us to convict people, which will provide deterrence against future attackers.
Our responsibility as citizens:
- We have to have actual deterrence caused by ability to accurately prosecute rapists. That means that rapists will go to prison, but there isn’t an exploit that allows innocent people to be easily framed. That means we have to have some established means for people to declare their sexual intent.
- Until then, we need to have everyone we know putting their intentions in writing about the relationships they’re in, so we can get convictions. As usually, you have no idea whether a woman is promiscuous or where the relationship was, which makes it quite difficult to prove the rape beyond a reasonable doubt.
- We have to stop the culture of drugs. About half of rapes involve alcohol usage by either the attacker or the victim.
- Otherwise, we have to try to piece together intent from the crime scene and eyewitness reports, which is difficult and error-prone.
- We have to adequately resource law enforcement to investigate crime reports and the prosecutors, defense attorneys, and courts to adjudicate them.
- We have to be direct when it comes to the consequences of reckless behavior. People may not be to blame per se for getting drunk and being promiscuous; however, getting high and having sex with lots of partners makes it very easy for a rapist to commit crimes and very hard for a jury to find a defendant guilty without a reasonable doubt. People have to understand that they have limited, to no protection, if they make those choices.
- We have to continue to build the culture of group dating and outings, vs. the statistically likely one-on-one first dates.
- If there isn’t a safeword, or a prior agreement, no means no.
- Don’t screw passed out people.