Chloe Lew: More discussion on sexual assault needed to foster conscious community

The last time I had a conversation about alcohol in relation to sexual assault, somebody proposed the following rule of thumb: Drunk boys should just never hook up with drunk girls, and vice versa.

Here is what a person can dangerously gather from that misguided advice: Drinking leads to sexual assault.

It is a regrettable misconception that pervades college campuses and lauds responsible drinking as a method of protection from sexual assault. And by suggesting that drinking alcohol makes a person more likely to be sexually assaulted, this misconception implies that survivors are in some way responsible for his or her own assault.

But just as victim-blaming arises from perpetuating mistaken implications, it also arises from not talking about alcohol in relation to sexual assault at all. Our primary mandated sexual assault education at UCLA – AlcoholEdu and a presentation at New Student Orientation – is thrown upon us before we have the chance to experience social life on campus firsthand. So as shy as campus administrators may be about discussing drinking when the majority of college students are underaged, we need to talk about alcohol, and we need to talk about what it can do (affect decision-making or motor skills) as much as what it cannot (cause sexual assault).

Keeping quiet is not an option. This is a fact: Alcohol consumption is involved in roughly 90 percent of sexual assaults that occur on college campuses. But this presence is not mirrored in our discussion of sexual assault on college campuses.

I haven’t discussed alcohol and sexual assault at a campus-organized program since my freshman orientation, more than three years ago, and as much as the presentation moved me at the time, I draw blanks trying to recall any of it today.

In one of our campus’ shining moments in properly discussing alcohol and sexual assault last school year, 7000 in Solidarity effectively carried out #AlcoholIsNotConsent, a photography series that put human faces to the statement that as often as alcohol may be a factor of sexual assault cases, it is never the cause, and in turn, never an excuse.

And to their credit, campus administrators try to make this known, too. Every new student is required to attend a presentation during orientation that explicitly explains that alcohol consumption is not an excuse for assault, but rather that the responsibility lies with the perpetrator and his or her actions.

But misconceptions about the role of alcohol in cases of sexual assault cannot be eradicated by heavy presentations plunked in the middle of a fast and distracted three-day orientation weekend or zero week, and then forgotten for much of the rest of a student’s UCLA education. The understanding that alcohol does not excuse sexual assault, just as it does not excuse driving accidents or any other crime, must become a permanent fixture in the conversation about sexual assault, and that starts with consistent dialogue throughout the school year for all students.

For instance, the Campus Assault Resources and Education center hosts workshops such as “Blame it on the Alcohol,” addressing alcohol and consent for targeted communities including Greek life. However, due to the difficult nature of the conversation, very few people voluntarily come to sexual assault workshops, said Nicole Green, the prevention programs coordinator for Counseling and Psychological Services and CARE.

If students do not voluntarily join in on the conversation, then it becomes the responsibility of student leaders and campus administrators to bring the conversation to students.

Some of the more successful workshops have been those requested by communities such as the Active Minds committee at USAC’s Student Wellness Commission, Green said.

Organizations specializing in certain conversations can be leaders and also models for other student groups. The rest of our student groups, regardless of social, athletic or academic nature, can follow more experienced special interest groups such as Active Minds in coordinating with resources like CARE and encouraging its club members to participate in sexual assault workshops as a community.

Sexual assault education is particularly relevant for student organizations, not only because we can more easily engage conversation on intimate scales, but also because student groups host parties, and parties, more often than not, involve alcohol.

And while these social events are a fundamental way of creating communities out of clubs, student groups that do not supplement social events with a prior discussion about sexual assault and alcohol forgo their responsibility to the larger community to mentor new members.

The danger of silence on any issue is that people will draw conclusions on their own. When it comes to an issue as pervasive and serious as sexual assault on college campuses, all factors should be fair game for discussion, starting with making the distinction of what qualifies as a factor and what qualifies as a cause.