Alcohol abuse and how to protect ourselves
I believe that college and university is a place where our boundaries get messy with the whole cultural difference and without the cultural difference, as well. So, I think coming from the Middle East there is a kind of [unclear] like an embedded cultural [thing] drinking, blacking out and having sex. So, I think it’s not only for Middle Eastern women or people, it’s just, in general, I think everyone in their first-year introduction to university should be educated on how binge drinking and blacking out can have negative effects on them and other people. So I think on day one there should be an introduction pack, little booklets and stuff, I think there should be a little page defining alcohol abuse and how to protect ourselves and other people from the whole negative effect of alcohol use, extreme alcohol use.
Recommendations
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Create and promote avenues for comprehensive consent education.
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Ensure educational materials and initiatives explore relationships between sexual violence and drugs/alcohol. These materials should be mindful of pressures to over-consume and the fact that some international students are unfamiliar with drinking culture. Ensure and/or highlight the fact that no student who discloses or reports sexual assault will be penalized for substance use related to the incident in question.