Want to conquer your fears, prevent crime and reduce your chances of being a victim of date rape? The Florida Police Chiefs Association asks that you take these common-sense precautions:
Rapists aren't always strangers. When someone you know- a date, steady boyfriends or casual friend-forces you to have sex, it's still rape.
PREVENTING DATE RAPE
As a woman you can...
- Be careful not to let alcohol or other drugs decrease your ability to take care of yourself and make sensible decisions.
- Trust your gut feelings. If a place or the way your date acts makes you nervous or uneasy, get out.
- Check out a first date or a blind date with friends. Meet in and go to public places. Carry money for a phone call or taxi, or take your own car.
- Don't leave a social event with someone you've just met or don't know well.
- Do not accept beverages from someone you don't know and trust. Always watch your drink and never leave it unattended.
As a man you can...
- Accept a woman's decision when she says "no." Don't see it as a challenge.
- Ask yourself how sexual stereotypes affect your attitudes and actions toward women.
- Avoid clouding your judgement and understanding of what another person wants by using alcohol and other drugs.
- Realize that forcing a woman to have sex against her will is rape, a violent crime with serious consequences.
- Never be drawn into gang rape.
- Seek counseling or a support group to help you deal with feelings of violence and aggression toward women.
WHAT ARE "DATE RAPE" DRUGS?
Rohypnol ("roofies","roopies", "circles", or "the forget pills") works like
a tranquilizer. It causes muscle weakness, fatigue, slurred speech, loss of motor
coordination and judgment, and amnesia that lasts up to 24 hours. It looks like an aspirin
- small, white, round.
GHB (also known as "liquid X", "salt water", or "scoop") also causes quick
sedation. Its effects are drowsiness, nausea, vomiting, headaches, dizziness, coma, and
death. Its most common form is a clear liquid although it can also be a white, grainy
powder.
Rohypnol and GHB are called the date rape drugs because when they are
slipped into someone's drink, a sexual assault can take place without the victim being
able to remember what happened.
IF DATE RAPE HAPPENS...
- Get help. Don't isolate yourself,
don't feel guilty, and don't try to ignore it. It is a crime and should be reported.
- Get medical attention as soon as possible. Do not shower, wash, douche, or change your
clothes. Valuable evidence could be destroyed.
- Get counseling to deal with the emotional trauma.
- If you think you've been assaulted while under the influence of Rohypnol or GHB, seek
help immediately, try not to urinate before providing urine samples, and, if possible,
collect any glasses from which you drank.
Many police agencies within the State of Florida have additional crime prevention
tips and programs on their web pages. Click here to see if
your local police department has a web page.
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