For More Information:
Matt Vogel
Community Health Specialist
608-785-8977 (Ph)
vogel.matt@uwlax.edu
SEXUAL ASSAULT
Resources / Wisconsin Sexual Assault Law / Personal Accounts /
Sexual Violence and Substance Abuse / Links
What does alcohol have to do with sexual assault? It is important to know that sexual assault occurs without alcohol being involved; however, drinking on the part of the perpetrator and/or victim can be a major contributing factor. In recent years, all of the UW-La Crosse students who have reported a sexual assault have stated that alcohol or other drugs have been involved. The use of alcohol or drugs does not excuse the perpetrator’s actions nor should it place blame on the victim.
Resources
If you or someone you know needs information and/or assistance with sexual violence, please contact the following resources.
On Campus:
- Violence Prevention Office, 785-5126, 306 Wimberly Hall
- Office of Student Life, 785-8062, 149 Graff Main Hall
- Student Health Center, 785-8558, 1030 Health Science Center
- Counseling & Testing Center, 785-8073, 112 Wilder Hall
- Wellness Resource Center, 785-8977, 5 Wilder Hall
Off Campus:
First Call For Help, 211(24 hours)
Franciscan Skemp, 791-9720 or 1-800-362-5454, ext. 2281
Gundersen Lutheran, 775-5950 or 1-800-362-9567, ext. 5950
Wisconsin Sexual Assault Law
This information was taken from the Wisconsin State Statutes and is not in its entirety -- information that is pertinent to college campuses is included below. The statute in full can be found at Wis. State. Sec. 940.225.
The Degrees of Sexual Assault and the Definitions: http://www.uwlax.edu/StudentLife/sa.html#Definitions
Personal Accounts
The following are true accounts from UW-L students who have experienced sexual assault while in college.
A Sophomore talks about “A Friend”
“My sophomore year I moved off campus with some friends and on the first day we met our neighbors. Jon and Andy were awesome and Jon and I became friends right away. We spent a lot of time together we watched movies and played Mario kart. One night I was fighting with my boyfriend and was really upset. My roommates were all gone and I really needed someone to talk to, so I called Jon and he came right over. We were talking and he was being really wonderful. He gave me a hug and then a kiss. It was really innocent at first and then he went too far. I asked him to stop but he didn’t listen. When it was all over he just got up and left. I felt horrible afterwards. I questioned whether it was my fault; did I send him the wrong signals? It’s been a year now and I can finally talk about it. I realize that it wasn’t my fault -- my only regret is that I didn’t report it.”
A Freshman talks about a Party
“I moved to La Crosse from a small town and so the first few weeks I really got into the party scene. My girlfriends and I loved to go to one house every Thursday, we met the guys that lived there and felt cool that they talked to us and remembered our names. One night I got a little more drunk than normal and I passed out in an upstairs bedroom. I woke up in the morning with no clothes on feeling really groggy. I got up and got dressed and snuck out of the house with out seeing anyone. I walked back to the dorm and talked to my friends that had gone out with me and they filled me in on the rest of the evening. I guess they came up looking for me and a guy they hadn’t ever seen before came out of the bedroom and said I was with him and I would see them in the morning. They went back downstairs and talked about it and decided that they wouldn’t leave until they made sure I was ok. They went back upstairs and walked into what they thought was us having sex but I must have been passed out because I don’t remember anything. My friends and I went to the hospital and I got checked out and I had been raped and the doctors also suspect I was drugged but they couldn’t tell for sure. I can’t press charges because I don’t ever remember seeing the guy!”
A Junior talks about a Date
“We met in a class and he asked me out on a date. It was simple and nice, dinner and a movie. Afterwards he invited me over to see pictures from a recent trip. I went in and we started messing around but I felt uncomfortable. I told him that it was too fast, and that I didn’t want to go any farther but he didn’t respond he just kept going so I started kicking and screaming but he didn’t stop. Soon I stopped fighting and when it was over he rolled over and went to sleep. I went home and cried and cried. The worst part was seeing him in class every day for the rest of the semester.” Note: The problem of a survivor’s contact with an alleged perpetrator does not need to happen! Staff in the Office of Student Life, 149 Graff Main Hall, will work with sexual assault survivors in adjusting class schedules, on-campus work schedules, and on-campus living arrangements in order to minimize contact between the survivor and the alleged perpetrator.
Sexual Violence and Substance Abuse
The following information was taken from the Higher Education Center website www.edc.org/hec/pubs/factsheets/.
Alcohol Use
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) 2002 report on college drinking estimates that more than 70,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 survive alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape each year.
A national survey of more than 14,000 students found that 1.0 percent of students living in residence halls or fraternity/sorority houses survived alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape during 2001. 19.5 percent of students experienced an unwanted sexual advance where alcohol was involved. (CORE Alcohol and Drug Use Survey, 2001).
75% of male students and 55% of female students involved in date rape had been drinking or using drugs at the time. (Koss, M.P. 1998. Hidden Rape: Incident, Prevalence, and Descriptive Characteristics of Sexual Aggression and Victimization in a National Sample of College Students. Rape and Sexual Assault, Vol. II. edited by A.W. Burgess. New York: Garland Publishing Company.)
Rape Drugs
Various drugs are used to facilitate rape, including alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB), benzodiazepines, ketamine, barbiturates, chloral hydrate, methaqualone, heroin, morphine, LSD, and other hallucinogens. When combined with alcohol, which they frequently are, such "nonalcoholic" drugs can lead to blackout.
Alcohol is by far the most commonly used date-rape drug. Rohypnol ("roofies," "roaches," "forget pill," "whiteys," "roach-2s," "trip-and-fall," "mind-erasers," and "Mexican valium")is available illegally for less than $5 per pill. The drug makes users look and act as if they are intoxicated. Adverse effects include disorientation, confusion, dizziness, drowsiness, impaired motor skills, impaired judgment, and unconsciousness. The effects are felt within 15 to 30 minutes after use and may persist for many hours. Rohypnol is very dangerous when mixed with alcohol or other depressants; possible adverse outcomes include low blood pressure, difficulty breathing, coma, and even death.
Victims who were given rohypnol are often uncertain about whether they were sexually assaulted. In addition to causing amnesia, the drug metabolizes quickly and is undetectable 72 hours after ingestion.
Gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB) underwent clinical trials by the FDA as a treatment for sleep disorders, but the drug was never approved or legalized for consumption. GHB is also known as "liquid ecstasy" and "liquid g."
GHB may cause severe memory loss, disorientation, dizziness, drowsiness, nausea, vomiting, breathing difficulty, seizure, unconsciousness, and coma. As with rohypnol, the drug takes effect shortly after ingestion.
Links
Eagle Eye: http://www.uwlax.edu/StudentLife/main2.html
Counseling and Testing Center: http://www.uwlax.edu/counseling/
Health Center: http://www.uwlax.edu/studenthealth/
WCASA: http://www.wcasa.org/