Dark side of a girls' night out

By BRITTON BROUN - The Dominion Post

Nineteen young women have been sexually assaulted after partying in Wellington's central city this year, with most too drunk to remember what happened.

And Wellington Hospital's emergency department has seen record numbers of alcohol-related admissions for under-20s with women outnumbering men almost two to one.

Police say the number of attacks on drunk young women is growing. "They are binge-drinking, make poor choices and can't keep themselves safe," Detective Senior Sergeant Paul Borrell said. "That's a worry and that's the preventable part of it."

Alcohol was involved in 19 sexual assaults on women aged under 21 in Wellington's CBD this year, while 14 of the victims - including school pupils - were too drunk to remember what happened.

Mr Borrell said sexual assaults throughout all age groups in Wellington had dropped slightly since last year, but attacks on heavily intoxicated young women had increased noticeably.

Though there were sexual predators who spiked drinks, in most cases the women had drunk themselves into a stupor and were taken advantage of by men of a similar age whom they "vaguely knew" or had met that night.

Considering there were more than 300 bars in a two-kilometre stretch of the city centre, normally packed with thousands of people, sexual assaults in the central city were rare, Mr Borrell said. Most happened at the man or woman's home afterwards.

"It's not this image of a back-alley sex offender. Where any guy takes advantage of an intoxicated woman, that falls under predatory behaviour.

"It's up to friends of victims and potential offenders to do something about it. In my view, if something does happen, all of us have failed that person."

He said alcohol dulled victims' normal fight-or-flight instincts, and their blurred memories made a successful prosecution difficult.

University students new to Wellington were most at risk and it was common for drunk people to be abandoned by friends when they could not get into pubs. Unable to afford bar prices, students tended to drink at flats or halls of residence and were often drunk by the time they got to town.

This year police began new initiatives at Wellington universities, speaking to about 3000 students about the dangers of getting drunk, and had also started taking their message to Wellington high schools.

Mr Borrell had spoken to pupils at Wainuiomata College, teaching them about the penalties for rape, what legally constitutes consent, and trying to get boys to keep their mates from doing something stupid.

"They don't realise the ramifications it has further down the track, the effects it has on offenders and victims."

Police, Wellington City Council and ACC started the "Safe in the City" advertising campaign last year, which promotes girls sticking together and planning their nights out.

A council survey this year showed more women were aware of the dangers faced in the CBD and moves were under way to improve lighting in the area.

Helen Sullivan, Wellington Sexual Abuse Help Foundation general manager, said 90 per cent of sexual assaults were not reported, and there were many more girls who would never go to police.

It was dangerous to put the onus of responsibility on girls as they already tended to blame themselves, she said.

"Why should the whole responsibility for a situation be put on women? The bottom line is we should be able to walk down the street or do anything without the threat of sexual violence."

Stronger messages needed to be sent to men that sexual violence was not acceptable, Ms Sullivan said.

The foundation, along with Wellington Rape Crisis, was pioneering an education programme on the "ethical bystander", which urged people be aware of and intervene in possible sex assaults.

'NEVER THOUGHT IT'D HAPPEN TO ME'

An hour into a night out in Courtenay Place a university student's innocent fun turned into a living nightmare when she was raped in a dark toilet cubicle.

In April 2007 the 19-year-old, whom we will call Sarah, slugged back a bottle of Scrumpy in a drinking game and went into town with friends around midnight.

Without cash or a cellphone she soon left the group and stumbled towards home alone, into the path of two strangers.

They offered her use of a shop toilet off College St; instead one man undressed and raped her in an unlit handicapped cubicle. In February, a man was convicted of rape and another of being party to rape.

For Sarah, it has been a journey "to hell and back".

With blurred memories of what happened, she was racked by self-doubt, wondering if the rape had even happened. She failed her studies, plunged into depression and had to endure tough questioning at the trial.

"I drove myself crazy for a year and a half," she says. "I just had scenarios of what may have happened running through my head and couldn't concentrate.

"I just didn't want to talk about it, I just didn't want to know about it because I felt really responsible."

Now she has left Wellington, resumed her studies elsewhere, goes to counselling, helps out with rape crisis and spends most of her nights out as the sober driver, keeping a close eye on her friends.

And she is always prepared, carrying a phone and at least $50 taxi money in her wallet.

Though Sarah was left alone on that night, she does not blame her friends. "Sticking with your mates is a really big thing, but at the same time you should be responsible for yourself.

"I don't totally blame myself, but if I hadn't been drinking that night it wouldn't have happened.

"I didn't really have a care in the world, I just never thought it would happen to me. You have a few drinks and think you're 10-foot-tall and bulletproof, but you're not."

She believes university drinking culture, with students getting plastered every night between Wednesday and Saturday, is very dangerous.

But she refuses to let it ruin her life and says she has learnt some valuable lessons.

"I've had to learn the hard way. Hopefully other people can learn from experiences like mine."