Partying with friends can be awesome and an important part of growing up. Partying could include going to parties at friends houses, clubbing, going to a concert or festival, hanging out with friends at the beach etc.
Partying can be heaps of fun when everything goes well, but unfortunately sexual assaults can and do happen when people are partying.
Here are some of our tips to help make sure that you and your friends can stay as safe as possible when you are partying:
Drink Spiking
When someone slips alcohol or drugs into your drink without you knowing. Drink spiking may be used by a person with the intention of sexually assaulting you.
Drink spiking is a crime.
Passing out
Passing out from drink or drugs increases how vulnerable you are and means that you are not in control of what happens to you and you are at greater risk of being sexually assaulted.
Being really wasted or drugged means that you often take greater risks.
It’s risky
These risks might include sexual risks for example not practicing safe sex, or it might mean getting into a car or agreeing to go home with someone you have only just met.
Even though we can all do things when we are partying to lessen our risk of being sexually assaulted, anyone can be sexually assaulted.
Losing control
Being pressured into sex or doing things sexually that you don’t want to do.
It may be that you feel pressured to:
• Have sex in front of other people
• Have sex with more than one person at a time
• Be filmed while having sex
• Go further than you wanted to go
• Go against your sexual orientation or interests and be with someone of the same or opposite sex.
