From: tbarnes@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (thomas wrentmore barnes)
Subject: Re: Another Pennsic tip
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 18:26:57 GMT

In article <BrsvAx.L1M@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca> aryk@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca (A.J.S. Nusbacher) writes:
>While Thomas Barnes has made some good points about violence and rape aware-
>ness at Pennsic, I feel that some points must be addressed.
>
>In article <Brsr1q.Fw4@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu> tbarnes@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (thomas wrentmore barnes) writes:
>
>>2. Even though a woman's chances of being blitz-raped by a stranger at
>>Pennsic are probably pretty low given the population density and the
>> thiness of tent walls, 
>
>Mr. Barnes, I think you're dreaming.  Pennsic is filled with lonely, quiet
>stretches, and my colleagues in the University's Personal Safety Office are
>always telling me how rapes can be committed quite close to large crowds of
>people with nobody the wiser.  Loneliness or proximity to crowds can be a
>factor, but neither one is a guarantee of danger or safety.
>

I agree. I was understating the case to avoid sounding like an alarmist.

>>women should still follow the more elementary
>>safety precautions especially at night or if they are in isolated areas.
>
>This is a difficult issue to address.  Most rapes, even violent ones, are
>committed by acquaintances.  While all the usual urban precautions (rape
>whistles, pepper gas, etc.) are as useful at War as they are in the city,
>they are not always useful in the city.
>
>I would especially caution anybody who would carry a lethal weapon with the
>intent to use it for personal defence.  A lot of people carry knives in
>the SCA, and a lot of ladies are sold "bodice daggers."  Almost nobody knows
>how to use them, and even in the hands of an expert they are dangerous to
>the user, and they can escalate an encounter to lethality very quickly and
>with great finality.
>

yes, yes, yes! Never escalate a crisis situation unneccessarily!
>>Date rape is probably a more common problem at Pennsic, given the amount
>>of alcohol which flows and the party atmosphere of some encampments.
>
>Date rape can be committed with no alcohol involved.  Drinking is a common
>excuse for sexual violence, and it is not an excuse.
>

Absolutely, sorry I didn't make the male responsibility more clear.
>Date rape and sexual coercion are widespread in the SCA, and they are wide-
>spread at Pennsic.
>

This stinks. Once again, I was hoping somebody else would back me up, so
I wouldn't look like an isolated alarmist. 
At war two years ago I saw some slime-bag openly fondling a teen-ager
who was so drunk-of-her-ass that should couldn't feel or didn't care
what he was doing. If thats what a sexual predator will do in public, in
a lit place, no telling what he'll try when he's got her alone.
>>Moral: Don't walk alone in deserted places, especially at night.
l>
>This is a frightening piece of advice to read about Pennsic War.  Especially
>since it gives a false picture of rape risk.  While lonely roads at night
>are a risky place, so are many populated areas.  While a weirdo with a knife
>lurking in the ditch is a danger, so are some of the people at the party.
>

Yes, you're right, I was just mentioning the advice I have read in
Indiana University Rape Prevention flyers. Actually, people at a party
are probably more of a danger than the weirdo. They blend in with the
pennsic crowd.(the people at the party I mean...)
>Looking over that, I don't know which is more frightening--warning people
>not to walk down dark roads at Pennsic War, or warning people to beware of
>other folks at a Pennsic social gathering.
>

 I absolutely agree. It sucks. I do so dearly wish that Pennsic would be
the one place on earth where a woman doesn't have to fear rape. But my
posting is based on my overheard conversation between a senior chiurgeon
 (I was wearing my tabard at the time and was used as a runner) and a
man who was in shock and openly weeping because he was the first to
discover a woman who had been blitz raped two years ago. Obviously, this
  source is little better than rumor, but I saw it and if the people
involved were acting I wouldn't have known it.

>Last comment on this topic:  Sexual assault is a police matter.  It is not
>a matter for your household, your knight, the king, the autocrat, or the
>site owners.  
>
Yup, so is theft, assult and any other crime. Remember that our society
is bound by mundane law.

>And, leaving my friends at the Personal Safety Office, going down to my
>other colleagues at the Office of Student Services, I advise you to come
>prepared with latex condoms.
>
Yes, Yes, Yes! Also avoid other "unsafe" or risky sexual practices and
 ask your partner if they have any STDs. Women should also ask men to
please use condoms during sex, since they are disporportiately afflicted
by AIDS. We might be recreating the middle ages, but or epidemiology is
just the same as any other group of North Americans and Northern
Europeans (modern group...). This means that among my age group (18-25)
you have a 1 in 500 chance (roughly) of encountering a person of your own
age who is HIV positive. (And recent news reports suggests that not all
AIDS patients are HIV positive. That makes me reeeeal nervous, even if
they are incredibly rare.)


 >Just doing my job,
  >
>Aryk Nusbacher
>Professional advisor of students
>

 Many thanks for the additional information,

Lothar von Katzenellenbogen \|/
                             o  
From: Stephen.Whitis@f4229.n124.z1.fidonet.org (Stephen Whitis)
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