Date Rape Epidemic????

[Endemoniada]

Seriously, what the fuck is going on?? Female students getting date-raped. Male stdunets getting mugged. This disgusts me, I thought St Andrews was safe from this kind of sick shit. There is no sanctity.

Sorry if this doesn't make sense but this issue, well, I guess you could say it strikes a cord with me.

[harmless loony]

I wasn't aware that any girls in st andrews had been date raped or that any guys had been mugged - have i missed something while i've been ill in my room??

[LeopardSkinQueen]

[s]harmless loony wrote on 11:48, 18th Oct 2003:
I wasn't aware that any girls in st andrews had been date raped or that any guys had been mugged - have i missed something while i've been ill in my room??


I haven't heard anything either. Anyone care to enlighten us? Being well-informed is the best way to keep yourself safe, so some idea of what's been happening would be very helpful.

[hr]
[s]"Frodo breathed heavily and leaned against Sam, who put his arms about him." 'Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 2'
[/s]

[Pussycat]

Around halls there are talks being held by the head of student support and the univeristy liasion wpc.

Basically it's a talk on being vigilant watching your drinks, stay with people you know and don't walk home at night especially through Kinburn park as people do get drugged and there are date rape drugs about that are being used and have been in use for the last few years. Also there have been muggings over years - especially on male students.

And returning students should watch over first years who are even now not known well enough by their mates for the mates to recognise if they're acting out of character...and to try and get them home safe etc.

It was also majorly stressed that this is not the Bronx, this is not an epidemic, it ain't a big city but drugs are everywhere and GHB is around in St Andrews.

St Andrews is safe compared to other university towns/cities but you still have to be sensible.

[Portly Steve]

Always happened in st. andrews, nothing new, there was a series of rapes in the first few weeks of my first year but, damned if you'll ever find any kind of public response to it(lyn informs me this happened at the start of her first year as well).

Some warnings go out, they pass out a couple of rape alarms but it all gets very quiet very quickly.

Thats the nature of st. andrews, for example; try finding out the suicide rate in st. andrews, in my time there where quite a few suicides and attempts (even some friends) but no official statement was ever made.

A Word to anyone reading this though, Welfare was always there for anyone that asked and I dont imagine anything has changed since I left. Chris Lusk helped a hell of a lot of my friends get through some really bad things, they dont make a fuss and they will do anything they can for you, all you have to do is ask.

They used to be on the first floor of the union, right at the back (past the office and keep going). If they have moved, someone correct my mistake.

Edit:
[s]Pussycat wrote[/s]
St Andrews is safe compared to other university towns/cities but you still have to be sensible.

Very very true

[Gatty Scumbelina]

To add - my mum went to a talk given by Diana Lamplugh, who basically said that attack alarms are worse than useless. If you set one off it sounds just like a car alarm, and will draw little or no attention. If you can set off your attack alarm you can scream, and the sound of a scream is more likely to attract help. The only proper way to use them is to set it off by your attacker's ear.

Also - your first reaction may be to kick someone, or knee them in the balls, but you shouldn't - it takes one foot off the ground, and puts you off balance.

[hr]It is so difficult to make a neat job of killing people with whom one is not on friendly terms.

[Pussycat]

[s]Gatty Scumbelina wrote on 12:45, 18th Oct 2003:
If you can set off your attack alarm you can scream, and the sound of a scream is more likely to attract help.

And to show how public spirited the public of today is:

It's been recommended to me by various people that it is better to shout something other than "rape", like "fire!" for example. The reason being that there is less motivation for a stranger to intervene in a rape than in a fire when the person's own belongings are in danger.

I would like to think this isn't the case in St Andrews but you never can tell.

[KMart Cowgirl]

Attack alarms and other related deterents like pepper spray while they can be used effectively under certain circumstances are almost always useless in a date rape situation.

Only about 6% of rapes occurr in the 'dark alley' senario, that being the stranger on the street who attacks and rapes. In fact the other 94% of rapes are 'aquaintence rape', those committed by someone the victim knows. The frightening thing about these sort of attacks is that they usually occurr in circumstances where the victim is comfortable and thus has let down her/his defenses. It is estimated that 1 in every 4 women will be raped in her lifetime (i believe the statistic is about 1 in 7 or 8 for men). A large percentage of these women and men will be assulted in the first 4-6 weeks of their university career. It is considered the single most vunerable time for a person to become a victim of rape. The combination of being away from home, not knowing anyone, and living in dorms where one's bedroom is also their sitting room and their study space makes for highly vunerable situations. Not to mention the tremendous insecurity that goes along with this period of time.

On the issue of date rape drugs, these are usually used in 'aquaintence' situations as well, which means one should always show dilligence watching their drinks when they are out in the pub or at a party. Many of these drinks cause memory loss, as well as lowering inhibitions, so one might not even be able to remember the incident.

[S.P.I.G]

1 in 4 is the statistic for South Africa

[Pussycat]

It's 1 in 4 for Scotland for attempted rape and rape. Well over 90% of raped women knew their assailant.

However what makes uni so particularly dangerous is that in the first few weeks you don't really know people fully so there may be no one who realises how out of character you are acting. The talk was pretty much to stress to first year students to stay with someone you know and to returning students to keep an eye out for those who look like they need help.

Having said that I would guess the statistics in St Andrews are far lower, just as they are higher in Glasgow. Just use common sense.

[originalflygirl]

The reason for shouting 'fire' instead of rape is because anyone 'fooling around or flirting could be shouting 'rape' for a laugh. Noone shouts 'fire' unless there is a real emergency so people will be more likely to help.

[LeopardSkinQueen]

[s]originalflygirl wrote on 19:48, 19th Oct 2003:
The reason for shouting 'fire' instead of rape is because anyone 'fooling around or flirting could be shouting 'rape' for a laugh.


People do this? Really?

The little flame of hope I had left in humanity has just been extinguished.

[hr]
[s]"I say, Charles, don't you ever crave to appear on the front of the Daily Mail, dressed in your mother's bridal veil?"
[/s]

[Al]

I think I remember reading, or hearing, somewhere that people in trouble are encouraged to shout rather than scream. What they shout is less important but it should be a word that immediately attracts attention. The sound of people screaming is more likely to be ignored as "people messing about".

[hr]Life is too important to be taken seriously.

[Capt. Jean-Luc Picard]

it is true that there are attacks going around in st addys. i was badly attacked at the pier in january at the time just before they issued out leaflets of warnings. i remember the guys broke my neck and my left leg. eventually i made a slow recovery but that night i will never forget..

please be careful

[KMart Cowgirl]

apologies i should have listed my statistical sources...

http://www.cwasu.org/factsonrape.htm#So ... %20Assault:

one things to note, studies on rape victims and statistical data is extremely hard to gather. The majority of victims will never report the crime to the police, and of those that are reported only a very small amount actually lead to convictions. As you can see from the data, statistics are taken from surveys of women conducted by non governmental research bodies. There had been a wide degree of variation in how these agencies carry out their research, however the important things to realize is that regardless of how the research is conducted the results are frighteningly high.

[Blah Blah Blah and don't forget the violence]

I'd be interested to find out exactly how some of that information was gathered. The problem with some of the data gathered on rapes is that it is the woman's opinion on whether or not she has been raped or not, not that the actual rape occurred. Sometimes (I say erring into flaming territory), with reference to a couple of my female friends here, a woman who regrets sex with a particular partner, can construct a scenario of rape to absolve themselves of blame for choosing a bad partner (few women who does this will then try and get the 'rapist' convicted). This factor may or may not be significant, it is impossible to tell.

[LeopardSkinQueen]

[s]Unregisted User Blah Blah Blah and don't forget the violence wrote on 11:17, 20th Oct 2003:
a woman who regrets sex with a particular partner, can construct a scenario of rape to absolve themselves of blame for choosing a bad partner (few women who does this will then try and get the 'rapist' convicted).


Have you got any evidence of this? Statistics, psychological research?

[hr]
[s]"I say, Charles, don't you ever crave to appear on the front of the Daily Mail, dressed in your mother's bridal veil?"
[/s]

[Pussycat]

[s]Unregisted User Blah Blah Blah and don't forget the violence wrote on 11:17, 20th Oct 2003:
....

That sounds more doubtful than the statistics I've read. What you have written does wander into flame territory simply because you are implying some women make it up therefore some women should not be believed. It's already hard enough to try and prosecute someone.

Incidentalyy my sources are: http://www.rapecrisisscotland.org.uk/about_rape_8.htm and http://www.rapecrisis.co.uk/statistics.htm

I particularly doubt that the 1 in 7 married women who said they had been forced to have sex were lying - what would the reasoning for that be?

I just cannot fathom how anyone, male of female, could be an evil enough person to carry out a rape or sexual attack. It really sickens me.

[benedict]

'I just cannot fathom how anyone, male of female, could be an evil enough person to carry out a rape or sexual attack. It really sickens me.'

Mike Tyson: 'People suck'.

some folk just don't care.

[hr]watches should have a smiley face because even if it's not time to be happy they can still make you smile

[Linz]

Last year, when they had problems with a guy attempting to 'indecently assault' women, I happen to think that the police and the uni were actually quite good about it. What scared me most was that the discription of the guy (anywhere between 16 and 22, around 6ft and wearing a hoody) could have been any one of my good male friends. Don't get me wrong - I don't suspect them and never really did, it was just a split second realisation (I also realised that I was with most of them when the attacks took place *smile*)
In all honesty though I have to say I'm glad my mind worked like that - I can't imagine knowing someone well, or at least thinking I did, when they were out pulling this kind of sick, perverted stunt.