Globally, one in three women have been raped. A very small percentage of the rapists ever receive punishment for their offenses, particularly in the cases where the woman has been date-raped.

There are several things a woman can do to avoid being date-raped.

First, the woman can tell the man early on that she is unwilling to have sex. Granted, this is easier said than done and isn’t always easy for a woman to do. However, according to this site (which is full of useful information), statistically, the longer a woman waits to tell a man that she will not have sex, the more likely it becomes that she will be at risk for a date rape.

The web site suggests some possible dialogs for a date. One example that I liked is quite clear:

I don’t have sex with a man until we have been dating for a certain amount of time.


Unfortunately, the reality of the situation (at least from the experiences of people I know) is that many women who are date raped are not on an official date. I think that the older researchers forget sometimes that we are not living in Leave it to Beaver land and that enough women are having sex, and enough women are “hooking up” with guys that that dialog won’t actually work so well.

On the same page, the researcher asked a focus group of college guys what they would say if a woman they were expecting to have sex with said something along the lines of,

You’d better stop trying to have sex with me or I am going to call the police and have you arrested.

As you might expect, this freaked the guys out and all of them said that this would probably stop them from going too far. In a situation in which clothes are off and both people are drunk, it is really important to be very, very clear. Since many date rapes come in close quarters (in a dorm, fraternity or an apartment complex), you might want to try screaming.

Another site reminds women to be aware of creepy behavior. For example, if you are in high school and a 25-year-old guy is showing too much interest in you, he probably has problems dating women his own age and it might be a good idea to stay away. Also, pay attention to subtle signals like how you feel if someone is standing too close to you. If someone seems creepy, he more than likely is. Period.

In the end, remember that it is your right to choose and your right to value yourself.