Sexual assault forum brings expert

Eighty-five percent of all completed rapes of college women are either acquaintance or date… Eighty-five percent of all completed rapes of college women are either acquaintance or date rapes, according to Pittsburgh Action Against Rape education specialist Holly Opatick.

Opatick spoke to about 50 female students Tuesday evening about how to protect themselves from sexual assault.

“Any sexual advance that is not wanted,” is sexual assault, she said, adding that rape occurs when there is force or the threat of force.

“Is there any difference for victims?” she asked. “No.”

Someone being sexually harassed every day can feel as bad as a person who was raped, she said.

Rapes that do not occur on Pitt’s campus, but rather in nearby areas, are not reported to Pitt police, so students do not necessarily hear about them, Pitt student McKinley Frey said.

“I think it’s very irresponsible,” Frey said. She said a lot of students live near Bellefield Avenue, where a sexual assault recently occurred, “and they should be made aware.”

“They do it on purpose,” Pitt student Katy Hussey said. In order to make Pitt’s location seem safer, these rapes are not counted in the University’s statistics, she said.

According to Opatick, PAAR offers free and confidential counseling services for sexual assault and rape victims.

Since it is free, insurance agents do not need to be contacted, she said. College victims sometimes are deterred from getting help because they do not want people, including their parents, to know.

“It’s unfortunate and fortunate that we’ve gotten our name out there,” she said, adding that it is good to be useful, but that means that people are being assaulted.

People who need help dealing with a sexual assault can call (866) END-RAPE, 24 hours a day. This hotline does not only help victims of recent assaults, but many calls come from people who suffered assaults in their past and are experiencing flashbacks, Opatick said.

She said the hotline’s volunteers help victims by “letting them know that they’re safe, and that there are options.”

Opatick added that alcohol and date rape drugs are often involved in sexual assaults.

Some bars offer coasters designed to detect drugs that may be added to drinks, she said. But when tested, these coasters only work 90 percent of the time and, in some cases, it took more than an hour for the coaster to detect the drug, according to Opatick.

Many date rape drugs have the effects of alcohol, she said.

“People usually think they’re drunk. The person who gives it to you wants that,” she said.

Opatick said that Rohypnol is a common drug used. It makes people forget what has gone on so they do not report a crime, she said.

People should pay attention to their drinks to avoid having date rape drugs put into them, she said. People should also watch the drink being opened, even if it is being served directly by a bartender. Assaulters have paid bartenders to give their victims drinks with a drug already in it, she said.

Some fraternities have tried using date rape drugs on their brothers to see their reactions, she said.

One in five reported assaults are reported by males, that figure up recently from one in 10. Most assaults on males happen during childhood, she said.

One in four females are sexually assaulted during their lives, she said, most between the years of 16 and 24.

Only about 15 percent of rapes are reported and only four percent of those reported are prosecuted, according to Opatick.

The two female students assaulted on Sept. 22 near University Drive were doing the right thing by walking together, Opatick said.

To prevent rapes, society needs to learn why people rape, Student Government Board member Andrea DeChellis said. She added that until we find out why people are raped, the problem is not being addressed.

“You can’t tell a girl how not to be raped,” she said.