What is it?
How can I Protect myself and myfriends?
What is Acquaintance Sexual Assault?
When somesone you know (a friend, date, acquaintance, etc.) forces you to engage in sexual activities through violence, emotional pressure, or threats.
Many people call this form of sexual assault “Date Rape”, which is inaccurate because this type of sexual assault does not only happen on dates. Friends, acquaintancces, and other people you know can also be perpetrators.
Important Things to Remember:
- A prior or current relatinship or previous acts of intimacy does not equal consent.
- A verbal consent must be obtained both in each instance of sexual intimacy increases (e.g., from kissing to fondling, from fondling to oral sex, from oral sex to intercourse or anal sex, etc.).
- Like other forms of sexual assault, acquaintance assault is motivated by a need to control, humiliate, and harm.
Social Norms:
One of the things that we have to combat in order to protect ourselves and out friends from acquaintance sexual assault is the social morm that expects us to be polite and even passive (this is especially true for women in our society). Because of these social norms, many victims of sexual assault is the social norms, many victims of sexual assault may suppress or ignore their feelings of discomfort or fear in order to be polite and not offend anyone. In order to prevent acquaintance assault it is essential that, instead, we listen to and act on our instinctual sense of fear and discomfort. In other words, if you aren’t comfortable don’t worry about offending someone, leave!
A Final Word.
While we can do everything in our power to protect ourselves, it is important to remember that if you are assaulted, it is not your fault and you are not alone. Help is out there.
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