Reducing Risk

Steps to take to reduce your risk of being a victim of sex crimes include:

• See the Personal Safety and Crime Prevention section for steps to follow for your own personal safety.
• Consider your alternatives if confronted by a rapist; practice possible responses to situations so that you can recall them, even under the stress of a real encounter.
• Realizing that you could be a victim is the first step in self-protection.
• Use awareness and common sense to avoid potentially dangerous situations.
• Participate in a self-defense training class.

With regard to date rape and acquaintance rape, remember the following precautions:

• Know your own sexual values, expectations, wishes, and intentions, and communicate them clearly and openly.
• Be observant of your acquaintance's or date's attitudes toward you.
• Avoid using mood-altering chemicals such as drugs and alcohol. Studies have shown that being under the influence of alcohol or drugs contributes to increased incidences of date rape.
• Be assertive about your needs and rights. Reinforce your verbal "no" with physical resistance, unless you feel this will further endanger you. Tell your assailant that he or she is committing a sexual act to which you do not consent and that he or she is breaking the law.