Sexual Assault Resource Center

Safety Tips

There are many resources available on campus to help keep you safe. One important resource is yourself and how you think about and plan to be safe while at college and likely away from home and familiar surroundings. Making a plan can be helpful, because it gets you familiar with what resources are available and what are your options if you were ever to find yourself in an uncomfortable or unsafe situation. The people you are developing new connections while at college is exciting but you are new to each other and may be similar or different in the way you view personal safety and safety when you all socialize together. Developing two types of plans are important when you are around new situations and new people.

Safety Tips When Going Out or Hanging Out

Sometimes I go out to bars and parties, how can I protect myself there?

• Avoid being alone with someone you don't know
• Avoid being alone with anyone who makes you uncomfortable
• Pay attention to a person who: does not listen to you, stands too close, or seems to enjoy your discomfort, they may not respect your desires or limits.
• Travel in a group and try to stay in a group
• Never wander beyond where everyone is sitting.
• If you go to the bathroom away from the bar, take a friend with you.
• Never accept a drink you have not seen prepared. Do not drink jungle juice or other premade concoctions
• If someone offers you a drink at a bar, club, or party, go to the bar and watch the drink being prepared.
• It is always better to buy your own beverages.
• Carry your own drink to avoid something being put in it without your knowledge.
• Avoid exchanging or sharing drinks with others, and/or leaving your drink unattended.
• If you realize your drink has been left unattended, throw it away.
• Always let someone (friend, roommate, etc.) know when you are going out and when you will be home
• These tips can all apply even when you are hanging out in smaller groups at someone’s house.

Safety of friends and others.

I want to watch out for my friends. How can I do that?

• Go to events with friends. Don’t go to events alone.
• Stay together!
• Have a designated "sober" person when you go out to parties, clubs, or bars.
• Have a plan to check up on each other.
• If one of your friends appears very intoxicated, gets sick after drinking, passes out and is difficult to awaken, is having any difficulty breathing, or is behaving in an unusual way, get emergency medical assistance immediately.
• Don't leave a friend alone or with someone they don't know.
• Always be aware of your friends.
• Make sure everyone in the group gets home safely.
• Make sure your friends know about predatory drugs, which could be slipped into their drinks.
• Warn friends about bars/clubs or parties where aggressive behavior is known to have occurred.