Be wary of free drinks to prevent date rape

College Media Network

Front Page PDF

www.theranger.org

Home

Be wary of free drinks to prevent date rape

By Shaneen Y. Johnson

Issue date: 4/18/08 Section: News

Originally published: 4/18/08 at 9:18 AM CST
Last update: 4/18/08 at 10:16 AM CST

Page 1 of 3 next >

Media Credit: AccuNet/AP Multimedia Archive

A cosmopolitan cocktail sits atop a date rape drug detection coaster. Colleges around the country are buying millions of coasters that test for "date-rape" drugs in drinks. But law enforcement experts say the coasters are ineffective and could lead to more assaults by creating a false sense of security. The manufacturers, who also make fake snow and party foam, say the 40-cent paper coasters are 95 percent accurate. The coasters have test spots that are supposed to turn dark blue in about 30 seconds if a splash of alcohol contains drugs often used to incapacitate victims.

The National Center for Victims of Crime defines acquaintance rape as sexual assault by an individual known to the victim.

The more common term is "date rape."

The center says acquaintance rape occurs when there is a sexual assault by an individual with whom the victim has a "dating" relationship, and the sexual assault occurs in the context of this relationship.

In 2007, Texas Woman's University found every year, an estimated one woman in eight in college is raped, and in 85 percent of those assaults the women knew their attacker.

"One in six college women will be raped or victims of attempted rape in their lifetime," said Danielle M. Rominski, volunteer and outreach services director for the Rape Crisis Center for Children and Adults. "That is a eye-opening statistic and those are just the reported rapes. Most go unreported. Only one in 10 women actually report a rape. That is a mere 10 percent."

Many victims of date rape are female, but males can also be victims of sexual assault.

"It is not just women who need to protect themselves; it's men and women that need to be educated about preventing sexual assault," Rominski said. "Why is the responsibility heaped onto the shoulders of women, the potential victim, on how to protect themselves? What about teaching our young men and women about gender respect and gender roles and what it means to be a man or woman in society?"

Continued...

Page 1 of 3 next >

Article Tools

Subscribe:

This is an open forum for the readers of TheRanger.org. Abusive, inflammatory, slanderous, obscene and libelous language will not be tolerated. Please be considerate of other readers when posting comments. This is not the place for personal attacks. The staff of The Ranger.org reserves the right to deny publication of any posts. The comments posted here do not reflect the opinions of The Ranger staff, San Antonio College or the Alamo Community College District.