Doubt. Shame. Fear. Anger. These are just a few emotions sexual assault victim Jane has experienced. Though the violent act that shifted her life is in the past, the reality of being a victim can sometimes creep into the present. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are thousands of young women and men every year who are sexually assaulted, and although the crime is committed, it isn\u2019t always reported. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every sexual assault victim deals with the mental torment it causes in their own way. For Jane, whose identity is being protected, the initial coping mechanism was to make it less real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a super, super long road, and it\u2019s okay to feel like it\u2019s never going to end, because I definitely dealt with that,\u201d she says to victims. \u201cIt felt like a personal hell, basically. I tried to make it feel like it wasn\u2019t real. I tried to downplay my feelings. I tried to just make it less real. I tried to come up with excuses to make my feelings invalid, and it really just hurt my heart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was at the lowest point in my life,\u201d Jane continued. \u201cI had lost a lot of self-respect for myself, and I wasn\u2019t able to carry myself with confidence. It took a lot for me to build myself back up and reach out for help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and the university recently held an event about consent to provide information to help ensure there are fewer victims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have a lot of students on campus who have experienced these things prior to coming to campus. Some of them may unfortunately experience this here while they\u2019re on campus. Part of our role is not to just be punitive but to also offer education and services to try to prevent some of that stuff from occurring here in Kingsville,\u201d Director of Student and Community Standards Karey Barnes said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Consent in sexual interaction is the number one priority, without consent any sexual interactions that may happen can be considered rape or sexual assault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alcohol has been proven to have a major impact on one\u2019s ability to give consent in sexual interaction and is a contributor to a large number of rape cases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne of the biggest things for sexual assault awareness is to be aware of how alcohol can impact consent. It\u2019s important to know what some of the warning signs of incapacitation are – if somebody has been passed out, if they are throwing up, if they can\u2019t follow a conversation. And, if they\u2019re in that particular state of mind, even if they\u2019re the ones that are telling you they want to engage in sexual activity, typically in those particular moments, they may have lost that capacity to decide,\u201d Title IX Coordinator Tasha Clark said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you have been raped or sexually assaulted, remember no matter how hard it is to believe, you are not alone, reach out to local officials, such as Kingsville PD, University PD, or visit the Texas A&M University-Kingsville\u2019s Office of Compliance located in Lewis Hall, Room 130. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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