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1 in 6: Women’s Safety on Campus

Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Ashley Rossi
Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Allison Milam
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at BU chapter.

For my COM 201 class we were asked to create a public service campaign raising awareness about women’s safety on college campuses, particularly at BU. For me, staying safe is something I keep in the back of my mind but am not always aware about. After my friend’s drink was drugged the weekend I was supposed to work on the project I felt motivated to create an informative but accessible campaign. A lot of public service announcements and women’s safety campaigns are boring and don’t really have an effect on the demographic. I created the website www.1in6.tumblr.comthat has a lot of the information I used in creating the campaign. It also has the posters for the campaign and a printable wallet card with local phone numbers to use when in a crisis. The other students in my class had creative ideas as well and some of them will hopefully end up around campus. Here are some quick facts that I learned while researching this topic:

  • 1 in 4 college aged women will experience a rape or attack before they graduate. 
  • 90% of college student-victims know their attacker. 
  • For every 1,000 women attending college, there will be 35 incidents of rape in a given academic year.
  • 51.8% of rapes occur after midnight. 
  • 57% of rapes occur while out on a date. 
  • Women are 10 times more likely than men to be victims of rape or assault. 
  • 90% of assaults and sexual assaults on college campuses are alcohol related.
  • In 2007 there were 6 cases of rape at BU. 
  • In 2008 there were 6 cases of rape at BU. 
  • In 2009 there was 1 case of rape at BU.
  • A dose of rohypnol as small as 1 mg can impair a victim for 8-12 hours.
  • Distracted women (especially on cellphone, listening to music) are more common targets.
  • Common household products can be used to make date rape drugs.
  • Warning signs of being drugged: drowsy, dizziness, queasiness, lose of consciousness, lose of control of limbs (these symptoms will come faster than drunkenness)
  • Date rape drugs are colorless, odorless, and tasteless

Check out the website and just keep these statistics and tips in the back of your mind before going out. After doing the project I have noticed that my own awareness has increased when going out at night and on the weekends. 

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Ashley Rossi is a sophomore at Boston University studying Magazine Journalism and Mass Communication. After living in a small town for most of her childhood she looked towards the city for an exciting adventure. At BU Ashley has volunteered with the Community Service Center and written for various publications, including The Buzz and College Fashionista. Her goal is to eventually run the creative department for any major fashion magazine or international design house. Ashley also blogs daily on her blog, Gossip, Chanel, and English Tea on Tumblr. In the meantime she enjoys relaxing on the beach, watching Gossip Girl and Weeds, and reading the next Lauren Weisberger novel.
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Allison Milam is a sophomore at Boston University double majoring in Communications/Advertising and Sociology. After living in sunny Sarasota, Florida for her first eighteen years, Allison shipped up to Boston for a new climate and a new start. She spends most her time working with the Community Service Center, writing for the Buzz Magazine at Boston University, and participating on BU's National Student Advertising Competition's team. She has a passion for cooking, eating, and talking about food, and hopes to attend culinary school after she graduates from BU. Allison spent the summer of 2010 as the resident food writer for SRQ Magazine back home in Sarasota, and continues to do freelance. Whenever she can squeeze it in, Allison loves watching Weeds and Mad Men. Her goal is to attend as many concerts and meet as many famous people as possible while living in Boston! Allison loves living the city lifestyle and hopes to one day write for Bon Appetit magazine or work for a cutting-edge advertising agency!