Heading off to college can be exciting, but also intimidating and overwhelming. There are so many things to learn and do, and so many people to meet. CAASE views this exciting time as a great opportunity to have conversations with students about the Red Zone. What is the Red Zone? And how can we end it? 

The Red Zone refers to a period of time in which the risk of sexual assault for college students is the highest. It runs from the start of the fall semester through the end of Thanksgiving break. This interval between August and November is when more than 50 percent of college sexual assaults happen. 

The Red Zone exists for various reasons. For one, students are new to campus and still learning the environment, making them unfamiliar or unaware of where to access support. Another reason is the surge in social events, parties, and drinking (especially for freshmen, away from home and their families for the first time, or people who are drinking for the first time). Finally, some students are experiencing their first taste of independence and are just learning skills to set boundaries or recognize coercive behavior. 

Take our Red Zone quiz to test your knowledge!

How to spot unhealthy, unsafe, or coercive behavior 

Unhealthy, unsafe, coercive, or manipulative behaviors are major red flags, or in other words, tell-tale signs of behavior that might put someone at risk of being harmed. Here at CAASE, we encourage young people to look out for someone who doesn’t respect their partner’s boundaries. If someone tells their partner no, and that partner pushes for a yes instead, we encourage students to think about whether that is the safest person to engage with in sexual or romantic ways.  

In addition to disrespecting boundaries, someone who is overly aggressive may put their partner at risk of being harmed. Another big red flag is if someone lies, manipulates, or gaslights their partner to get what they want or pressure their partner into doing something they don’t want to do. This goes hand-in-hand with disrespecting boundaries. Physical or verbal threats also fall under disrespecting boundaries and are unsafe and unhealthy behaviors.  

Finally, people who cause harm may use isolation as a weapon, trying to get the other person alone. They may also feed someone drinks incessantly or forcefully. Watching out for all of these behaviors can help keep students safe. But what if someone is doing these things? Check out these tips from the Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network (RAINN) about how to respond if someone is pressuring you. 

What students can do to help prevent sexual harm 

There are various ways to prevent sexual harm, including sexual harassment and assault on college campuses. As the young people in your life are gearing up to make this transition to college, you can help by educating them on the issue. CAASE has plenty of information and resources available to help equip students with the tools to help. Knowing how and where sexual harm is most likely to happen can help people understand the issue. Also, knowing what behaviors to look out for can help students take action to get themselves or others out of unsafe situations. 

Another effective way to prevent sexual harm is to step in when someone needs help. In other words, CAASE encourages young people to practice active bystander intervention. It’s also helpful to have conversations with young people to ensure they understand the ways that sexual harm and rape culture are created and upheld through silence and tolerance. Ensuring people know that we won’t tolerate rape jokes or aggressive behavior in our presence can help combat rape culture. Practicing consent can also help prevent sexual harm, not only in sexual situations, but everyday ones too (e.g., “Can I give you a hug?”, or “I’m headed to the library too, want to walk there together?”). 

What victim-blaming is and how it affects survivors 

Victim-blaming is when someone blames the victim for something that happened to them. This can look and sound like many things, including asking if someone was drinking or what someone was wearing when they were assaulted. This is problematic because it implies that their drinking, or their outfit, caused someone else to harm them, when the blame should be placed only on the perpetrator.  

Victim-blaming is common because we are so used to a culture where survivors are doubted and not believed, and accused of making their experiences up for attention, while perpetrators get the benefit of the doubt and sympathy for being accused of harm. This is amplified even more when people know and care about both the survivor and perpetrator and want to believe that the perpetrator would not, or could not, harm others. Victim-blaming also makes us feel more comfortable about the possibility of ourselves being harmed. Looking at someone’s actions and saying “I would never make that choice, so this could never happen to me” keeps us feeling safer, even though it’s not true. Things like not drinking, not dressing a certain way, and not going out late do not guarantee total protection from sexual harm. Especially when we know survivors are much more likely to be harmed by an acquaintance than a total stranger.  

Victim-blaming is incredibly harmful. Making victims feel like their assault was their fault is going to prevent them from coming forward, keeping them silent, and retraumatizing them too. This leads to more stigma, more shame, and more room in our culture for sexual harm to persist. 

How to support survivors of sexual harm 

So, how can you support a survivor of sexual harm, including sexual harassment or assault? 

The first step is not engaging in victim-blaming. Whether it’s to the victim or to someone else. Additionally, when someone has experienced sexual harm or assault, their power and control have been taken away. Giving them back control over how things are handled in the aftermath is important. 

Another way to support survivors of sexual assault is by being educated. Knowing how and where to report and what reporting options are available makes it possible to share those options with survivors. Similarly, knowing what resources are helpful or having resources that can be provided to the survivor can be impactful. 

Resources like the campus crisis line or hotline, the campus counseling or wellness center, and the Title IX office all provide support to college survivors. Resources like community health clinics, the national sexual assault crisis line, and organizations like CAASE provide support to survivors. CAASE specializes in many things, including providing free legal help and representation for survivors within Cook County.  

CAASE also recognizes that it can be traumatizing to learn that someone you care about has experienced sexual harm.  It can be especially traumatizing if the person who harmed your friend is also a friend, or a member of your community (as they mostly are). For this reason, CAASE encourages all allies and supporters to pay attention to, and take care of, their own mental health and well-being. This is not just because we care about all people, but because in order for a person to be the best ally they can be to a survivor, they (you) have to remember that it is the survivor themself that needs to be in control of what happens next. Every survivor’s journey can be made easier if they have even one person who has their back—and if you want that person to be you, you need to be as well as possible yourself. 

Now that you know more about the Red Zone, take our quiz!

This piece was published on August 7, 2025. It was authored by Jade Pinkowitz and edited by Lizzy Springer and Kaethe Morris Hoffer. Learn more about our staff here.