As a college student, it's easy to find yourself in ambiguous social situations, especially where sex is (at least potentially) at stake. Sometimes it's hard to tell exactly what's going on; things can get pretty confusing. And then when alcohol or other substances are involved, the lines around what's okay can seem even blurrier.

In a potentially sexual situation, you might have trouble reading a person's body language, knowing for sure what they want and don't want, where her (or his) boundaries are, or when to stop. On the other side, you may feel like he (or she) doesn't get it, and you might not know how to make it clearer what you do want and what you definitely don't. Either of you might feel ambivalent, not quite sure how far you want to go sexually or how to talk about it with the other person.

You've probably seen your friends go through the same stuff - finding themselves in sexual situations that are unclear or possibly dangerous, maybe without realizing it. It's hard to be sure how to intervene in a sketchy situation, or whether you even should.

Unfortunately, sometimes sex turns violent, and whether you call it "sexual assault" or a "mistake", it's wrong. For both men and women, communication and bystander intervention are critical skills for reducing the risk of committing, being the victim of, or seeing someone else hurt by sexual assault.