Risk Reduction Tips
Risk Reduction Tips from the College’s Department of Public Safety:
- If you have limits, make them known before things go too far.
- Tell a sexual aggressor “NO” clearly and loudly, like you mean it.
- Try to extricate yourself from the physical presence of a sexual aggressor.
- Grab someone nearby and ask for help.
- Be responsible for your alcohol intake/drug use and realize that alcohol/drugs lower your sexual inhibitions and may make you vulnerable to someone who views a drunk or high person as a sexual opportunity.
- Watch out for your friends and ask that they watch out for you. A real friend will get in your face if you are about to make a mistake. Respect them if they do.
- If you find yourself in the position of being the initiator of sexual behavior, you owe sexual respect to your potential partner.
These suggestions may help you to reduce your risk for being accused of sexual misconduct:
- Don’t make assumptions about consent. About someone’s sexual availability. About whether they are attracted to you. About how far you can go. About whether they are physically and mentally able to consent to you.
- Clearly communicate your intentions to your partner and give them a chance to clearly relate their intentions to you.
- Mixed messages from your partner should be a clear indication that you should step back, defuse the sexual tension, and communicate better. Perhaps you are misreading them. Perhaps they haven’t figured out how far they want to go with you yet. You need to respect the timeline with which they are comfortable.
- Don’t take advantage of someone’s drunkenness or drugged state, even if they did it to themselves.
- Realize that your potential partner could be intimidated by you or fearful. You may have a power advantage simply because of your gender or size. Don’t abuse that power.
- Understand that consent to some forms of sexual behavior does not necessarily imply consent to other forms of sexual behavior.
- On this campus, silence and passivity cannot be interpreted by anyone as an indication of consent. Read your potential partner carefully, paying attention to verbal and non-verbal communication and body language.
