Risk Reduction: Guidelines to Minimize Risk of Sexual Assault

                                                                                              

Awareness:

  • Know your individual rights.

  • Know which behaviors constitute rape and sexual assault.

  • Know how alcohol and drug consumption impacts your own and others behavior and how altered judgment affects your intimate relationships.

  • Know basic personal safety information and victim prevention techniques. Pay attention to what is happening around you, and avoid, when possible, vulnerable and potentially dangerous situations.

  • Personally:

  • Think about what you really want in a relationship.

  • Be aware of stereotypes that prevent you from acting as you would like.

  • You have the right to feel good about yourself and to get help if you choose.

  • If you have been the victim of sexual abuse, seek the support that you need.

  • Act on your needs and wants while not exploiting others.

  • In Relationships:

  • Develop personal intimacy communication skills and communicate what you really want and what you are really thinking. Passivity may be misinterpreted as permission. Be direct and firm with someone who is pressuring you sexually. Assert yourself.

  • Know your sexual desires and limits. Believe in your right to set those limits. Communicate your limits clearly.

  • Listen and pay attention to the verbal and non-verbal cues you or your partner may be sending. If you are not sure, STOP and talk about it.

  • Trust your intuitions. If you feel you are being pressured into unwanted sex by your partner or peers, you probably are.

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    Be aware that you also have the right to say no to sexual activity regardless of whether or not you have had sex before. You have the right to stop sexual activity at any time.

     

     

    Prevention: Suggestions for Ending Sexism & Male Violence Against Women**

                                                                                                  

    While beneficial in all cases, the following actions are particularly powerful agents of change when done by men.

    Understand how your own attitudes and actions perpetuate sexism and violence, and work toward changing them.

    Confront sexist, racist, homophobic and all other bigoted remarks and jokes.

    Use positive peer pressure to help stop abusive behaviors that may lead to acquaintance sexual assault. For example, when over-hearing someone talk about taking advantage of a partner sexually, let them know you think this is wrong. Silence can be mistaken for approval.

    Don’t fund sexism. Don’t purchase magazines or music, or rent videos or video games, that portray women in a sexually degrading or violent manner. Protest sexism in the media.

    Read articles, essays, books about masculinity, gender inequality, and the root causes of sexual violence. Educate yourself and others about the connections between larger social forces and the conflicts between individual women and men.

    Support candidates for political office who are committed to the full social, economic and political equality of women. Actively oppose candidates who are not.

    Organize or join a group of men to work against sexism and violence (like Men Acting for Change here at Duke).

    Support individuals and agencies who are on the forefront in working to end all forms of violence against children, women and men. Commit yourself to ending oppression in all its forms.

    **Adapted from: Real Men, P.O. Box 1769, Brookline, MA 02146

     

     

       

     

     

    Resources

     

     

     

    Ethical Definitions of Sexual Assault & Rape

              

     

    Understanding

    Survivors' Experiences

            

     

    Healing: Taking

    Care of Yourself

            

     

    What Do I Say to Someone Who Has Experienced Violence?

            

     

    Special considerations for diverse population

            

     

    Risk Reduction

    & Prevention

            

     

    Organizational Resources for Survivors

            

     

    Recommended Readings

            

     

     

     

     

            

     

    Download the Entire Resource Page

            

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