by Antonette Manabat
Staff Writer
Rape, date rape, sexual assault and their prevention were candidly discussed at a talk on campus by Project Sister, a Claremont-based sexual assault prevention organization.
The Monday talk was sponsored by the fraternity Chi Delta Omicron, as one of its philanthropic projects.
Bernie Dillon, Project Sister’s education and outreach coordinator, warned students of the danger and prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses. She also defined various types of assault.
Rape, she said, is, “any sexual intercourse, however slight, with any object, by a man or a woman upon a man or a woman, without effective consent.”
Dillon explained the notion of effective consent as “informed freely and actively given mutually understandable words or actions that indicated a willingness to participate in mutually agreed upon sexual activity.”
She then described real life situations involving alcohol and partying. She involved the students, asking, “if it is effective consent if a person is under the influence of alcohol even if they are not drunk?”
She then explained, “Both parties are fully conscious (when) both parties are equally free to act (and when) both parties have positively and clearly communicated their intent.”
“We wanted to invite Bernie to speak before spring break to let students be aware of the dangers and risk they may be taking when they party and drink,” said Josh Peacock, Chi Delta Omicron’s philanthropy chairman.
Dillon said she thought it was very important to clear up possible misconceptions about rape and effective consent “right away.
“That’s why I spent so much time on that subject,” she said.
“The situations she talked about made a lot of people in the room think; I mean most college students have been in those situations,” Peacock said. “I didn’t know that someone could be convicted of rape if both people are drunk.”
Many people in the room did not know that fact either.
“This is a major issue on college campuses for both males and females; our main goal was to inform students who get into certain situations and don’t know how to handle it.” said Henry Ellison, Chi Delta Omicron president. “We wanted them to know about their rights and where to turn to for help.”
Many people do not know where to turn to for help or they just do not want to, Dillon said.
She explained that, according to the FBI, only one in 10 rapes is reported.
Of all the crimes committed, rape is the least reported, she said.
“For those that have experienced being a victim, we wanted them to learn about their rights, and for those who haven’t, we wanted them to be educated and clear up any question marks they might have,” said Sam Gross, Chi Delta Omicron’s rush and alumnus chairman.
Dillon told her audience that the victims are not alone.
In fact, many people in the room shared stories about people they know who had been raped and never came forward.
“Our group’s goal is to provide support for victims and let them know, most importantly, that it is not their fault, and they are not alone; people are willing to help them,” Dillon said.
Dillon also gave some more shocking statistics about how one of five young women in college report being forced to have sexual intercourse;
· 42 percent of rape victims told no one about the assault;
· 7.3 percent of college men reported having an abusive sexual experience before the age of 14;
·75 percent of male students and 55 percent of female students involved in date rape had been drinking or using drugs;
·And 84 percent of victims reported knowing their attacker with over half of the sexual acts occurring on a date.
“I don’t want to come in here and preach about alcohol and partying, but I want people to think twice about putting themselves in risky situations,” Dillon said. “If you do party, go in groups and watch out for each other.”
“I think that everyone that went learned something new,” said freshman Nancy Reyes. “It was a real eye opener.”
Chi Delta Omicron members handed out safety whistles.
“We want the La Verne community to know that we are out there to support and be positive role models,” Gross said. “We also wanted them to know that we see this as an important issue.”
Chi Delta Omicron’s other philanthropic projects include spinal cord injury research and drug abuse awareness.The fraternity is involved in a walk-a-thon tomorrow with the Leroy Haynes Boy’s Home to help the University raise money for their school.
“We are grateful that the school allowed us to be an organization, and we want to give back to the school and the community,” Ellison said.
For more information, call the Project Sister’s 24 hour crisis hotline at (909) 626-HELP.
