1.  Is this scenario realistic?

2.  What is “playing the game”?

3.  What stereotypes are portrayed?

4.  What part does alcohol play in this situation?

5.  Who is responsible for this situation?

6.  Do you think he should go to prison?

7.  How might you feel if she was your sister or girlfriend?

8.  Is kissing on the dance floor permission for sex?

9.  How do we educate males and females to communicate better? . . . to be more responsible?
 

RESOURCES
If you or a friend have been sexually assaulted or raped, here are some resources for help and support:

• Kathy Benson, Concordia Rape & Abuse Advocate       3677

• Fargo-Moorhead Rape & Abuse Crisis Center   293-7273 or (800) 344-7273 or e-mail racc@netcenter.net

• Concordia Counseling Center    3514

• Campus Security      3123

• Emergency       9-911

BACKGROUND INFO
What is a date or acquaintance rape?
Although our discussion is about more than rape, it is useful to be able to explain an understandable definition of acquaintance rape.  Individual state laws will differ slightly, but generally, date rape is an act of sexual intercourse with a person (usually a woman) committed against her will or consent . . . in this case it is committed by an acquaintance or date.  The rape would include some type of penile penetration, either vaginal, oral, or anal.  Even if the penetration is slight, and even if the man does not ejaculate, the crime is still rape.  Although many date rapes might include physical force, force is not necessary to meet the legal definition of rape.  The threat of violence, threat of retribution, coercion, the victim being impaired or unconscious through the use of alcohol or drugs, would all meet the definition of rape.  The important issue here is that many students erroneously believe that if little or no physical violence occurs, if they have had sex with the same person before, if they have been making out and come close to intercourse before, or if the victim is drunk or unconscious then rape has not occurred . . . they are wrong!

Facts about rape
Most college students will have personal examples of miscommunication in a social setting, but what statistical evidence do we have of issues related to sexual aggression?  Here are a few collected from a national study of college students:

• 84% of women raped knew their assailants.
• 57% of rapes occurred on a date
• Women age 16-24 have 4 times higher risk of being raped than any other population group.
• The average age of a rape victim is 18.5 years old.
• Only 27% of women whose sexual assaults met the definition of rape thought of themselves as being rape victims.
• 1 in 12 male students surveyed had committed acts that meet the legal definition of rape.
• 84% of men who had committed acts that met the legal definition of rape, said that what they had done was definitely not rape.
• 16% of male students who had committed rape took part in episodes with more than one attacker . . . gang rape.
• 75% of male students and 55% of female students involved in a date rape had been drinking or using drugs. ¹
• 33% of males surveyed said that they would commit rape if they definitely could escape detection.
• 25% of men surveyed believed that rape was acceptable if:  the woman asks the man out; or the man pays for the date; or the woman goes back to the man’s room after the date.