Prevention  

More than two out of three sexual assaults are committed by an acquaintance of the victim. This indicates that although it is important to use strategies to protect yourself from "stranger danger," it is also very important to consider ways of protecting yourself from people that you know that could be potential perpetrators.

Learn what consent means, how to give it, and how to know when it has been given for all sexual activities. Address consent in every intimate situation.

Develop a healthy mistrust. You cannot distinguish a person who rapes from one who does not based on physical appearance, profession, income level, ethnic background, education, religion, or sexual preference. Get to know people slowly and in group situations.

Avoid excessive alcohol use. One half of sexual assault victims report drinking alcohol at the time of the assault.

Drugs and/or other substances can be slipped into a person’s drink to make a victim more vulnerable. Prepare your own beverage.

Develop a buddy system to avoid being isolated. Drive to gatherings with a friend. Leave together. Keep an eye out for each other.

Trust your instincts – if a situation doesn’t feel right, get away.

Set sexual limits that are comfortable for you. If you feel you are being isolated, pressured or "talked into" unwanted sex, you are probably right.

Be aware of your surroundings. Keep your head up and look around. If you walk or jog alone, do so against traffic. If someone follows you in a car, turn and run in the opposite direction. Go to a well-lit, well-populated area.

Keep your door locked at all times. If you live in a dorm, keep outside doors locked and closed. Do not allow people you don't know to enter the building.

Ten things men can do to prevent gender violence

 

1. Approach gender violence as a men’s issue involving men of all ages and socioeconomic, racial and ethnic backgrounds. View men not only as perpetrators or possible offenders, but as empowered bystanders who can confront abusive peers.
2. If a brother, friend, classmate, or teammate is abusing his female partner -- or is disrespectful or abusive to girls and women in general -- don't look the other way. If you feel comfortable doing so, try to talk to him about it. Urge him to seek help. Or if you don't know what to do, consult a friend, a parent, a professor, or a counselor. Don’t remain silent.
3. Have the courage to look inward. Question your own attitudes. Don't be defensive when something you do or say ends up hurting someone else. Try hard to understand how your own attitudes and actions might inadvertently perpetuate sexism and violence, and work toward changing them.
4. If you suspect that a woman close to you is being abused or has been sexually assaulted, gently ask if you can help.
5. If you are emotionally, psychologically, physically, or sexually abusive to women, or have been in the past, seek professional help now.
6. Be an ally to women who are working to end all forms of gender violence. Support the work of campus-based women's centers. Attend "Take Back the Night" rallies and other public events. Raise money for community-based rape crisis centers and battered women's shelters. If you belong to a team, fraternity, or other student group, organize a fundraiser.
7. Recognize and speak out against homophobia and gay-bashing. Discrimination and violence against lesbians and gays is wrong. This abuse also has direct links to sexism (e.g., the sexual orientation of men who speak out against sexism is often questioned, a conscious or unconscious strategy intended to silence them. This is a key reason few men do so).
8. Attend programs, take courses, watch films, and read articles and books about multicultural masculinities, gender inequality, and the root causes of gender violence. Educate yourself and others about how larger social forces affect the conflicts between individual men and women.
9. Don't fund sexism. Refuse to purchase any magazine, rent any video, subscribe to any Web site, or buy any music that portrays girls or women in a sexually degrading or abusive manner. Protest sexism in the media.
10. Mentor and teach young boys about how to be men in ways that don't involve degrading or abusing girls and women. Volunteer to work with gender violence prevention programs, including anti-sexist men's programs. Lead by example.