Sexual assault has become a hot topic of conversation at UNI. With three alerts in the last few weeks, it has me thinking twice about walking home after dark. 

Then I remembered I’ve taken steps to prepare myself and feel more confident. 

I pulled out my blasting headphones, kept one hand on my house keys, and the other on my keychain pocket knife. My decision on deterring it is an intentionally candid one.

We know the victim is never, ever the problem. Regardless of your actions as the victim, your assailant is always at fault and responsible when an assault occurs. In utopia, we would live in a world where sexual assault isn’t a problem. 

But let’s not kid ourselves; it’s the world we live in [referencing other hateful acts/mindsets]. 

History taught us that changing the actions and mindset of the perpetrator is extensively difficult and time-consuming. Changing their mindset is the way it ought to be. I’d like to propose another solution to speed up the process.

We live in a society that implies it’s sexy to go out and get drunk and a social network that implies one needs to do so to have fun. 

Though this is well within your right, many times, this puts us at a higher risk than if we were completely sober. We should never let it get this far! 

I would argue one can be sexy, cool and confident without liquid courage. 

I hate that it’s considered “slut shaming” when you expect people to keep control of themselves when drinking. 

ANY person should be free to do such things without repercussions or facing potential assault from another.  

Just like getting behind the wheel after a night of heavy drinking, we have to keep in mind our ability to safely influence a situation when we’ve been drinking heavily, is greatly impaired.

 A victim is a victim, but if it were up many of us, we wouldn’t want to ever look back on an assault and weigh the benefits of that one more drink over the costs of not getting home safe.

It’s insulting to me as a female when society teaches me that “saying NO” is the most reasonable defense we have against an attack. 

We aren’t addressing the fact that sometimes “NO” isn’t enough. We are teaching women that even if they don’t agree with the situation, the best solution is a firm two letter word to be left at the discretion of the partner or assailant.    

We can do better.

I don’t think I’ll ever understand why any woman who feels vulnerable would not take extra steps to ensure her own safety. 

It’s idealistic to believe “it could never happen to me” but the last few weeks have shown us it could happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. Yes, it shouldn’t, but it could. Why not take steps to protect ourselves?

We all know society does not, in most cases, accurately identify or prosecute perpetrators and, in that way, some believe that the government has failed to protect its citizens.   

To an extent, I respectfully disagree. I believe government has given us all the necessary freedoms and tools to protect ourselves.

It’s our peers that would rather see a victim than empower him/her to take action for deterring the problem in the first place. 

I’m not victim or slut shaming here… a victim is a victim.  

But I’ve got to believe if we better protected ourselves, there would be fewer victims in the first place. Society won’t even address the issue of protection and, in some cases, shames the right to it.

Instead, we are taught to lay there, take the pain, endure the act and keep yelling NO till it’s over, IF you even have the confidence to say that. Many don’t. There has to be a better solution.

There are people out there who believe it should be illegal to carry a handgun, but most people would agree that knowing someone might be carrying a handgun is a sufficient deterrent from initiating trouble with that individual. 

Members of our progressive government are trying to take away my right to truly level the playing field with a man or offender who (often) has weight and strength over me. 

This tells me society would rather me be a powerless, grieving victim than empowered. Why more women refuse to accept this as a factor of the “war on women” is outrageous. 

Now, we all know it’s not down everyone’s alley, always convenient, or even most effective to conceal or carry. On campus, it’s not an option. 

There are other similar and effective steps that can be taken to protect ourselves from an attack. Pepper spray, pocket knife, whistle, pocket taser and self-defense training. 

Yes, it sucks. Yes, it’s unfashionable. Yes, it seems like this shouldn’t be your responsibility. 

But I ask, put yourself in the shoes of a victim. 

If you knew you could have done one more thing to protect yourself, would you?  Let’s approach this one problem, with a more impactful, multi-factor solution.