The Clery Act defines risk reduction as,“Options designed to decrease perpetration and bystander inaction; increase empowerment for victims in order to promote safety; and help individuals and communities address conditions that facilitate violence.” Like all other forms of violence, dating violence, domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault are never the fault of the person who experienced it. However, IU encourages all members of the university community to protect themselves and others whenever possible. Below are some general safety tips to consider that may help you avoid or escape situations where someone is trying to harm or take advantage of you sexually or physically.
- Be aware of your surroundings.
- Listen to your intuition. If you feel like something is wrong, it probably is. Try to get out of the situation.
- Don’t be afraid to make a scene and yell, scream, or run for protection.
- Remember, alcohol and drugs can alter your perceptions and reactions. Be especially careful when you drink, and when you’re with someone who has been drinking. If you aren’t sure you have a “yes,” then don’t engage in sexual activity.
- Watch your beverage at all times. Date rape drugs are tasteless, colorless, and odorless. People often don’t know they have ingested these drugs until the effects are well under way.
- Go with a group of friends when you go out to a party or to the bars, and look out for each other.
- Speak up or call authorities if you see someone who could be in trouble. Remember Indiana’s Lifeline Law provides legal amnesty from prosecution for underage drinking, and many related drinking offenses, for a person who calls or texts 911, or for persons assisting and reporting a medical emergency, sexual assault or other crime.
Safe and positive options for bystander interventions
The Clery Act defines bystander intervention as, “Safe and positive options that may be carried out by an individual or individuals to prevent harm or intervene when there is a risk of dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. Bystander intervention includes recognizing situations of potential harm, understanding institutional structures and cultural conditions that facilitate violence, overcoming barriers to intervening, identifying safe and effective intervention options, and taking action to intervene.”
To actively intervene, follow these steps:
- Notice the event. Pay attention to your surroundings.
Interpret the event as a problem. Recognize that someone is being taken advantage of, vulnerable, or in danger. When in doubt, trust your gut, and intervene at the earliest possible point.
- Take personal responsibility to intervene. If you don’t intervene, it is unlikely that anyone else will.
- Decide how you are going to intervene. Try not to put yourself at risk or make the situation worse.
- Decide to intervene. Take action and intervene to help prevent or respond to problematic situations at the earliest possible point. If you are not able to fully intervene in a situation, consider responding by asking the person if they need help or assistance, contacting the police, or seeking out others for assistance.
Types of intervention
- Direct intervention: Directly addressing the situation in the moment to prevent harm.
- Delegation: Seeking help from another individual to intervene in the situation. This may be someone who is in a role of authority, such as an appropriate campus official, or in some instances, law enforcement.
- Distraction: Interrupting the potentially harmful situation without directly confronting the offender by distracting the offender’s attention or helping direct the individual in the potentially harmful situation away from the situation.
Remember to always call 911 in emergency situations. Most importantly, “If you see something, say something!”
Healthy, unhealthy, and abusive relationships
A relationship is healthy if each individual involved is supported in being the person they want to be. A relationship that limits, manipulates, or damages a person’s sense of self is unhealthy and can be harmful or abusive. Be honest when assessing your relationship on the following factors – you owe it to yourself!
- Mutual respect means valuing your partner for who they are, not who you want them to be or become, and receiving the same from your partner. Does your partner say, do, and believe things that you can support? Or, is one of you trying to change the other?
- Trust is present if you can share your thoughts and feelings with another person without fear of being hurt physically, cognitively or emotionally. Can you be yourself without fear of criticism or judgment? Can your partner trust you in the same way?
- Honesty is about being truthful in your words. Do you tell the truth? Do you believe what your partner tells you?
- Support means helping your partner in being their best and feeling you get the same in return.
- Fairness/equity is part of healthy relationships, which involve give and take, compromise, and negotiation by all parties.Do you almost always give? Or give in? Do you expect your partner to do it your way?
- Separate identities in relationships are healthy when each individual shares their true self with their partner. Each continues to grow both in and out of the relationship. If you feel like you are losing yourself or your unique identity, you may be in a harmful relationship.
- Effective communication is essential. Don’t get caught in the trap of believing your partner should know what you want, need, mean, or feel. Humans are rarely good mind readers, especially in intimate relationships. Do you and your partner take time to communicate? Does your partner really listen and work to understand you? Do you do this for your partner?
Harmful and abusive behaviors may come in many forms and may include:
- Intimidation–actions, gestures, or looks used to make another fearful
- Emotional harm–name calling or humiliation causing the other to feel unworthy
- Isolation–limiting interactions and information in order to establish control
- Minimizing/denying/blaming–making light of the abusive behaviors causing the other to doubt their own feelings or perceptions
- Dominance–treating another as a lesser being and controlling all decisions
- Economic control–limiting another’s access to work, money, food, or other resources to exert control
- Coercion or threats–making threats to harm someone in order to control another’s behaviors
Some rules for healthy sexual relationships
- It is the responsibility of the person initiating sexual contact to ask for and clearly receive consent before acting.
- If someone is incapacitated by alcohol or another substance, that person is considered unable to make clear decisions about consent.
- If your partner expresses uncertainty or says "no," it is your responsibility to STOP. Healthy sexual relationships are based on continuous communication about consent.
