Staff Writer
Just over two weeks ago an incident occurred off campus where a woman woke up in her apartment off of Onley Road to a man attempting to remove her pants. When it was clear that she was awake, the man fled from her apartment. The incident happened at around 4:30 a.m.
The Salisbury University police emailed the campus community after the event and sent out a special bulletin. The bulletin contained news of the event, and also safety tips attempted to help prevent similar events from occurring.
“I have never been in a situation where I felt as though I needed to be concerned. When I am off campus is when I feel as though there is more risk,” said Lauren Barrett, SU sophomore and social work major. “I always stay in a large group and make sure guys I trust are around.”
But staying clear of risky areas does not prevent situations like the one that took place on Onley Road from occuring. However, most sexual assault is not perpetrated by strangers. According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network two-thirds of assaults are committed by someone who knew the victim, and 30 percent of rapists are a friend or acquaintance.
According to One in Four USA, an organization working to reduce the prevalence of sexual assaults on college campuses, a study by the U.S. Centers for Disease control of 5,000 college students at over 100 colleges, 20 percent of women said in their lifetime they have been forced to submit to sexual intercourse against their will. This means that one out of every five women in college have been raped at some point in her life.