Ad campaign targets men who prey on drunken women

[slayton]

Ad campaign targets men who prey on drunken women
By Andrea Sands, edmontonjournal.com November 20, 2010 6:42 AM

EDMONTON -- A bold new advertising campaign will warn young men that extremely drunk or unconscious women can't consent to sex.

The Don't Be That Guy campaign, announced Friday by a coalition of groups fighting sexual assault, will target men aged 18 to 24 using print and transit advertising, as well as ads posted above the urinals inside bar washrooms, said police Supt. Danielle Campbell.

"The advertisements use graphic language, disturbing images to communicate one bottom-line message: Sex without consent is sexual assault," Campbell said.

"For those of you who choose to be That Guy, that opportunistic offender, know this -- the Edmonton Police Service has the subject-matter experts to investigate these matters and we will hold you accountable for the crime you commit."

In one ad, a man is helping a woman to a black car at night, and text underneath the photo reads: "Just because you help her home ... doesn't mean you get to help yourself." In another ad, a woman in a black dress is passed out, face down on a couch, with three liquor bottles lined up on the floor nearby. The text reads: "Just because she isn't saying no ... doesn't mean she's saying yes."

A third ad will be strategically placed only in men's bathrooms in 26 bars around the city. That one reads: "Just because she's drunk doesn't mean she wants to f***."

The three advertisements were chosen after focus-group testing showed the messages were clearly understood by, and resonated with, young men.

Campbell said she hopes the "graphic" and "blunt" messages make a real difference in educating young men and reducing sexual assaults.

In 2009, alcohol was a factor in half the cases investigated by the police sexual assault section, said Campbell. In the first six months of this year, 52 per cent of cases investigated, involving 153 victims, had alcohol as a factor, she said.

"In each of these cases, the victims were clearly intoxicated ... in some cases passed out at the time of the sexual assault. In each and every case, the offender was known to the victim," Campbell said.

"A person that is drunk or passed out cannot give consent."

A study out of the United Kingdom this month involving men ages 18 to 25 showed that 48 per cent did not consider it rape if the woman was too drunk to know what was happening, Campbell said.

The Don't Be That Guy campaign was designed after members of SAVE (Sexual Assault Voices of Edmonton) discovered a troubling trend among sexual assault cases in this city. SAVE is made up of various groups including the Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton, Responsible Hospitality Edmonton and Edmonton police.

"Our organizations know that the vast majority of alcohol-facilitated sexual assaults are committed by young men between the ages of 18 and 24, and the vast majority of victims of this crime are young women," said Karen Smith of the Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton.

Most sexual-assault campaigns focus on providing prevention tips for women, Smith said. "Tips just reinforce the myth that women are somehow responsible for anticipating and preventing sexual violence.

"This innovative SAVE committee believes that, as long as society directs prevention strategies at women, we all stop looking at what the real problem is -- the perpetrators."

[AnubisRox]

"Tips just reinforce the myth that women are somehow responsible for anticipating and preventing sexual violence."

They're kidding right?! Should women have no personal responsibility at all? Are they offended to do any work for their own livelihood?! No one's forcing you to drink. These are your choices! Are you saying that women shouldn't be responsible of their own choices?

Is a man personally responsible to try to not walk in a bad neighborhood late at night with $20 bills hanging out of his pockets? Should a guy not be blamed for his car being stolen because he left the car on and the door unlocked overnight? Or can only ONE gender be responsible?

Its funny how the quote said that women shouldn't bear the responsibility for anticipating and preventing sexual violence, but MEN are told that they should do that, for other men as well. And if you don't then somehow youre just as guilty as the guy who actually DOES it! Its obscene!

[Captain Courageous]

You're right AR, it's simply idiotic.

Articles like this do not showcase womens' intellect in a positive light. It appears once again as though caucasian women have a chip on their shoulder and a real ax to grind regarding men and sex.

You just don't see this crap with women of color, latinas and asian women.

[The Biscuit Queen]

I know I am preaching to the choir, but it should be based on what is communicated. If the women is communicating consent, drunk or not, she is consenting. If she is unable to communicate consent, whether passed out or incoherant, then it is rape. That also goes for men. If a man is too drunk to participate and the women does it anyways, it is rape. If he is appearing to be a willing participant, it is not.

The idea that men are responsible for assessing a woman's level of drunkenness is saying women are incapable of doing so herself.

If a person has a DWI, they are legally responsible for any accidents they cause. Why is it a person can be held responsible for choosing to drive while drunk but not capable of being responsible for choosing to have sex when drunk? The law is in direct contradiction of itself.

[Eviltwin]

A long time ago I dated a woman who could drink me under the table and still want more. Attempts to get her drunk usually ended with her begging for sex and me lying there in a drunken stupor. I finally dropped her because the whole thing was too hard on my health.

When it comes right down to it, drunken women aren't very sexy, and you have to be half in the bag yourself to want to go to bed with one. This raises a couple of interesting questions:

If you are both drunk, are you raping her or is she raping you?

If you are drunk, and she is sober, is she raping you, or are you a drunken pig who is trying to satisfy your lusts with her innocent body?

Worth thinking about.

[BRIAN]

I had this discussion with my teenaged daughter last year. I told her that she needed to not put herself in certain situations and be mindfull of who she was with and what she was doing. I told her that if she got slipped a Rufie taken advantage of that was rape but drinking a little too much and having sex then regretting it the next day was not. I guess I am a male chauvinist pig for teaching her that she is resposible and controlls her own destiny in a lot of ways.

[neoteny]

I had this discussion with my teenaged daughter last year.

What was her take on the discussion?

[Billy]

I had this discussion with my teenaged daughter last year. I told her that she needed to not put herself in certain situations and be mindfull of who she was with and what she was doing. I told her that if she got slipped a Rufie taken advantage of that was rape but drinking a little too much and having sex then regretting it the next day was not. I guess I am a male chauvinist pig for teaching her that she is resposible and controlls her own destiny in a lot of ways.

No, that does not make you a male chauvinist.

Just saying anything and being heard by a feminist makes you a male chauvinist in their eyes.
But who needs them?

[outdoors]

http://standyourground.com/forums/index.php?topic=20628.0

[CG9603]

I had this discussion with my teenaged daughter last year. I told her that she needed to not put herself in certain situations and be mindfull of who she was with and what she was doing. I told her that if she got slipped a Rufie taken advantage of that was rape but drinking a little too much and having sex then regretting it the next day was not. I guess I am a male chauvinist pig for teaching her that she is resposible and controlls her own destiny in a lot of ways.

Brian:  I think that your actions make you a responsible parent.  You appear to have said that she has responsibility for her actions -- and also the results of those actions, even when she doesn't like the result.  That is a Good Thing ™.  You're only a chauvinist in the eyes of the local Feminists.  Then again, we're all chauvinists in the eyes of our respective area feminists, so welcome to the club. 

[The Biscuit Queen]

You are only a chauvanist if you think protecting the idea of women victimhood is more important than protecting your daughter.

[Quentin0352]

SOunds like the talks I have had with my daughter. She has told me she knows many guys anymore that are being raped in their sleep and when they are either too intoxicated or high to even know what is happeneing, much less actually agree to it. The big difference is that under the law it is legal what is being done to them and these males are responsible for any child support or other things. She knows about not getting in to that situation, calling me if she needs and that SHE is responsible for HER actions.

But then again, I am supposedly a woman hater and etc. Kind of like when I posted on that board about the Huffington Post deleting comments. They were quick to call me things like that and state I was likely an abuser, child molestor and more to only claim that I just couldn't handle their "facts" and the "proof" they offered I was wrong. Of course I actually read their information, demonstrated several times it was not what they claimed and they never even looked or commented on my links beyond stating they were wrong or that I should look at their blogs showing I was wrong.

Remember, males being drunk, slipped a drug or etc is not rape, they all wanted it so they are responsible but if she changes her mind AFTER sex it is still rape.

[.]

If a person has a DWI, they are legally responsible for any accidents they cause. Why is it a person can be held responsible for choosing to drive while drunk but not capable of being responsible for choosing to have sex when drunk? The law is in direct contradiction of itself.

I wonder what they would do with drunken women who molest non-intoxicated kids (or for that matter, intoxicated kids).  Also, what do they do with drunken women who sexually assault drunken men (or for that matter, have consensual sex with drunken men).  It's as though for women, being intoxicated is their ticket to acting like sexual predators with impunity.

[.]

You are only a chauvanist if you think protecting the idea of women victimhood is more important than protecting your daughter.

This statement of wisdom should be bronzed.  Stickied too!  Bronzed and stickied.

[davis2ab]

If I get drunk voluntarily (e.g. no one forced me to drink the alcohol), then I am responsible for what I do while drunk.  I see no reason it shouldn't be the same for a woman (I can make an exception for a woman who is totally unconscious).

I have been drunk in my life, but I always knew what I was doing.  The drinking reduced my inhibitions but it did not eliminate my awareness of what I was doing. I think it is the way it is for 99% of drunks. The other 1% shouldn't get drunk.

Although inhibitions are reduced when drunk, one still knows what one is doing and is responsible for it, IMOH.