 "Photo: Ruben Castillo")
During a public forum on sexual assault prevention, representatives from various local organizations discussed safety measures for students to consider Wednesday evening.
"Drinking, doping and date rape in Lubbock: What you need to know about sexual assault" informed students on how to be socially responsible as the semester comes to an end.
Michelle D'alesanro, an investigator from the Texas Tech Police Department, said predation usually is induced by alcohol or drug use. She said sexual assault instances occur with three common drug usages - Rohypnol, GHB and Ecstasy.
"For every choice you make," she said, "there's going to be consequences - whether positive or negative."
Linsey McCutchin, a community educator with the Lubbock Rape Crisis Center, said it is easy for anyone to obtain these drugs. The accessibility of the Internet provides recipes to make date-rape drugs.
"A date-rape drug is rapid intoxication," McCutchin said.
Today, D'alesanro said, date-rape drugs come in many different forms. The most common forms are liquid and pill. Other drugs can be made from household products, such as floor degreaser.
McCutchin said date-rape drugs, or central nervous system depressants, might kill victims or cause conditions such as amnesia when mixed with other substances or alcohol.
"If you are given too much," she said, "it's like a double whammy."
McCutchin said there are two types of sexual predators - perpetrators and strangers. Perpetrators, she said, invade a potential victim's personal life and become acquainted within a social circle. Other date rapes occur by strangers do not know the victim at all.
"If it doesn't feel right," she said, "it's probably not right."
D'alesanro said perpetrators are becoming more sophisticated in finding victims. Social networking Web sites, such as Facebook and Myspace, reveal personal and contact information about users.
Although there is a lengthy legal process, D'alesanro said, sexual assault victims should report the incident right away. The sooner it is reported, the more evidence is available to catch the sexual predator.
"If it happens once," she said, "it can happen again."
Mollie Elmore, a sexual assault victim from Sweetwater, said the legal process of her case lasted two years.
"It took a year for them to catch him," she said, "and then it took another year for a trial to happen. He received two life sentences, stacked."
D'alesanro said only one-third of assaults are reported. She said same-sex assaults are among the most unreported.
Jill Jeffers, a graduate student from Hobbs, N.M., said she thought the discussion was informative and raised her awareness of the issues. Before attending the discussion, she said she never knew how many rape cases occurred in Lubbock.
Ingrid Weigold, a counselor from the Tech Student Counseling Center, said date rape or sexual assault occurs from the betrayal of trust from people a victim has known. She said students should be aware of the surroundings and locate exits, keep an eye on any beverages or food and to go places with friends.
D'alesanro said students should be more aware when walking around campus alone. Tech offers a safe ride service, and blue phones or emergency buttons are located throughout campus.
McCutchin said 362 sexual assault cases were reported in 2007, and 42 percent of victims were younger than 17 years old.
9 comments
There are more issues at hand, like gender equality, aggression, and the ability (or inability) to simply trust your gut. Ask the experts, George. Making it seem that easy to avoid sexual assault is a slap in the face for those in rape crisis center who have dedicated their lives to preventing such an awful occurence, and it's a slap in the face to the survivors of sexual assault, as oftentimes, survivors all ready feel a sense of shame and guilt for supposedly putting themselves in a bad situation.
If it was that simple, there wouldn't be public discussions on the matter.