SAY NO,
STAY SAFE…
Rape is a
taboo subject, often kept behind closed doors, but cases are on the rise and we
need to work together to try and prevent this, says Georgia Smith
Georgia had just finished her exams and was excited to
reunite with her college friends at a local club on Park Street, just 15
minutes from her house. During the night out, she reacquainted with many old
friends, not only from her college but secondary school as well. One boy, in
particular, became interested in Georgia and followed her around the club
repeatedly trying to engage with her in idle small talk. Not to feel rude,
Georgia responded politely even though she did not actually recognise this boy
from her “French class in year 9”. The evening took a turn for the worst when
everyone began to move on to the next club, but Georgia who had work the next
day decided to go home. The so called boy from her French class said he would
walk her to her bus stop as he too was catching a bus from that area; however,
she would not be going home that evening but would instead find herself in her
local police station being a victim of rape.
Unfortunately, rising numbers of cases like Georgia’s have
been reported across England since 2011, seeing an increase of 7 cases per
month. Police report statistics suggest that 80% of women experience some form
of sexual harassment whilst out on a night out; 45% of these lead to an
incident of rape. Many women report that when they are approached by the male,
they often feel too awkward and rude to just bluntly dismiss them and that the
males come across as very domineering, so there is no way to escape the
conversation. This controlling approach of the man’s talk sees many women just
going along with things even though they have clearly expressed uncertainty
towards the man, with awkward responses to things such as compliments. For
example, in Georgia’s case she reported the boy continuously complimented her
appearance and specifically made degrading sexual comments towards her “large
breasts”. She would always give the same awkward response, neither accepting
the compliment nor rejecting it; ‘are they?’
Dr B. Brown, the head of sociology at Oxford University,
suggested that males often do not get the hint at the lack of interest from the
women as they try to be polite and indirect about rejection. He suggested that
if the women initially just told the man ‘no’ and that they are not interested,
then it could help them to avoid something more serious later.
Helpful advice from us on how to avoid awkward confrontation
1)
If you feel uncomfortable in a situation, just remove
yourself, you do not have to be there
2)
Be honest, if you are not interested in someone and
they continue to harass you, just tell them straight so they don’t feel like
you’ve led them on
3)
Just say no- you have the right to do whatever you
want with your own body and no one can take that away from you
4)
Don’t feel impolite for rejecting them; by showing uncertainty
in the way you speak, you may come across as an easy target
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