Pushing through the ‘Red Zone’: Freshmen at higher risk for sexual assault during early days of college

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Millions of college freshmen are living away from home for the first time in new environments and around new people.

It should be a time focused on learning the ropes of adulthood, but for too many, this time of year brings different, more traumatic challenges. This is why the Sexual Assault Center calls the beginning of the school year “The Red Zone.”

“It indicates the highest likelihood of a college girl to be assaulted in her college career and possibly in her life. The highest likelihood is in this red zone,” explained Lorraine McGuire with the Sexual Assault Center.

More than 50 percent of college sexual assaults occur between August and November, according to Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN).

While navigating a new environment and meeting new people, first-year students are at a higher risk for sexual assault. The Sexual Assault Center is just minutes from several college campuses in Nashville, where exciting new chapters sometimes come at a risk.

“It’s not anything that these young girls are doing. It’s not the colleges that they’re going to, and hopefully, the colleges are taking steps to intervene in this time,” McGuire said. “There’s a lot more freedom…It’s a matter of going to parties and understanding what boundaries may or may not be, and kind of just being out in the world more then you probably were in high school. Because of that, unfortunately, that makes them a little bit more vulnerable for predators.”

The Center added that alcohol plays an integral part. With college parties happening, they want to remind students of the organization’s Safe Bar Program to keep partygoers safe from drugging incidents.

“Generally, it’s for alcohol-serving establishments, but we also have been able to get into a few colleges to talk about this with Greek life and just around campus,” McGuire said. “We’ve provided drug detection cards where people can test their drinks to make sure it hasn’t been tampered with, but also understanding the intersectionality between alcohol and sexual assault and how prevalent it is — especially for college-aged students.”

If you, or someone you know, has been assaulted and you don’t know what to do next, there is a 24/7 support hotline in Tennessee. You can call (866) 811-7473.