Thursday, April 30, 1992
When "No” isn't
Date rape comes out from under the
Robb Frederick
The Collegian
She was walking back from
a party when she saw him,
standing behind a car in
the dark parking lot. His eyes
were bright from under the ski
mask, but not quite as bright as
the light reflecting off the knife
in his hand. Suddenly afraid, she
tried to run, but he was too fast,
knocking her to the ground,
covering her mouth, pressing her
exposed back against the cold,
hard asphalt. She should have
never been alone; she should have
known better. After all, this is
how most rapes happen, right?
Wrong.
"The fact is, date rape is the
most common type of sexual
assault," explains Patricia Puline,
community education coordinator
for the Erie County Rape Crisis
Center. "Unfortunately, it's also
the least understood type."
The confusion surrounding
date rape has intensified in recent
months, as a nation of television
viewers tuned in to the highly
publicized rape trials of William
Kennedy Smith and Mike Tyson.
As the cases unfolded, the
stereotypical image of rapists
shifted from menacing
"bogeymen" lurking in dark
alleys to well-known individuals
who knew their victims, who
admitted to having sexual
relations with those victims, and
who simply explained that
"things got out of hand."
This revised attacker profile
has been supported by a number
of studies, including a report
from the Center for Women
This is a fictitious name.
Where to turn
If you ace a victim of a date rape or sexual assault, the
following sources can help arrange emergency medical care
and post-trauma counseling.
All efforts will be made to guarantee confidentiality.
Erie County Rape Crisis Center
870-7087
Toll Free Hotline
1-800-352-RAPE
Family Crisis Intervention, Inc.
456-2014
Penn State-Behrend Student Services
Penn State-Behrend Police St Safety
Just one more: Alcohol consumption, according to Dean of Student
Services Dr. Chris Reber, can open the door for sexual assaults. "However,
if you think alcohol will protect you in a court of law you're wrong," he
says. .
Studies at University Park, which
claims "50 to 70 percent of all
rapes are committed by someone
the victim knows."
The report also warns that
"nearly half of all assaults occur
in the victim's home," adding
that many acquaintance rapes take
place during established dating
relationships.
According to Puline, only 10
percent of all actual rapes are
reported.
"They (the Smith and Tyson
cases) have had a really negative
impact on the number of reported
rapes," she says. "This is a
matter that should have been
898-6111
898-6101
Department
Features
handled privately, not on the
network news."
The suggested frequency of
rape incidents varies significantly
among reports; a federal study
released two weeks ago found that
683,000 American women were
raped in 1990, while the FBI
estimates that a rape occurs every
three minutes and that one in
every three women will be raped
sometime during her life.
The numbers take on a new
meaning for college students.
"One in every six college
women will be raped during her
college years,” the University
Park study reports. Jill*, a
student here at Behrcnd, admits
that she has already become one
of those women.
She had invited a friend to her
residence hall room one night last
spring, she says, without
discussing or agreeing on the
possibility of sexual relations.
As she explains, the situation
"just went entirely too far."
What can you tell me
about that night?
I had been out earlier in the
evening, and he had gone out
with some of his friends. When I
got back to my room, he called
and asked if he could come over.
I guess he had been drinking,
and I had had a few beers earlier
too, so we were just talking and
then we both fell asleep.
You were comfortable
with him in the room?
Yeah. I mean, we were
friends, we had already gone out a
few times, and he had never tried
anything like that before.
enough
Greg Geibel [The Collegian
Then what happened?
We 11... I remember waking
up in the middle of the night, and
I was totally undressed and he
was on top of me. And then it
happened.
How did you react to
that?
I was confused about the
whole deal; I couldn't believe that
He said we were going out, and that he
had a right to do that if he wanted to.
it was happening. Afterwards ...
I don't know, I was ashamed that
it did, because I knew I should
have handled it differently.
I just remember feeling
suffocated at the time, but the
next morning I understood what
had really happened.
Do you think he realized
what he was doing?
He knew what he was doing,
but he didn't know it could be
considered rape. I told him, "I
didn't consent to it; there was no
reason for you to totally strip me
down, no reason at all."
And how did he react?
He said we were going out,
and that he had a right to do that
if he wanted to.
How did you deal with
this?
I couldn't sleep without my
roommate in the room or without
covers
a light on, so 1 had to go to a
psychologist. That helped a lot.
It still bothers me, though. It
does. I guess that I didn't have
any inkling at all that anything
like this would happen.
I guess eventually I'll kind of
grow out of it, but it's going to
take a while.
Did you tell your
parents about this?
Uh . . . no (laughs). I think
my dad would probably be really
upset. I think he'd be initially
very angry, but then ... I don't
know.
As over-protective as my
mother is, I think she'd
understand. But knowing her,
she'd probably shift the blame to
me, for even letting him come up
and, I mean, for even putting
myself in that position.
I had to deal with that in my
counseling because I thought I
had done it to myself. I should
have known better.
Like many rape victims, Jill
decided against pressing charges
against Hor attacker.
The Office Of Student Services
does receive reports of sexual
assaults each year, however.
"We have very, very few
reports of sexual assaults," says
Dean of Student Services Dr.
Chris Reber.
"Each year we have one or
more alleged cases cases we
learn of but where the victims
choose not to report the incident -
- but there’s always the fear that
this is just the tip of the
iceberg."
Charges were filed last year
against one individual, but they
were eventually dropped, says
Larry Silvis, manager of Police
and Safety.
"Sometimes it’s difficult,"
Silvis explains. "A victim can
almost be raped a second time
through the investigation that
follows.
"I feel Behrend is a very safe
campus," he adds, "but I do
believe there's more of this than
what we're seeing.”
To encourage victims to
report sexual assaults, Reber
says, the University provides free
emergency medical treatment,
confidential counseling, and year
round programming.
"This matter is taken very
seriously here," he says. "The
victim is our foremost concern,
and we will do whatever it takes
to meet each of their needs and
protect their identity at all costs."
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