One quarter of the women in Wisconsin colleges this fall will be raped or the victim of attempted rape, according to a release from the Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Inc.

WCASA has joined forces with the University of Wisconsin System and private colleges to address the problem of sexual violence on college campuses.

On Sept. 29 and 30, WCASA will hold the first-ever conference on Sexual Violence and the College Campus at the Holiday Inn and Convention Center in Steven’s Point. Local, state and national experts will attend the public conference.

The WCASA webpage states the majority of assaults are date or acquaintance rapes, with seven out of 10 assaults perpetrated by someone the victim knew.

Freshman girls are most vulnerable, especially in their first months of college.

The webpage also showed women do not always recognize they have been victims and are quick to blame themselves.

While 27 percent of college women have been the victim of rape or attempted rape in their careers as students, only 12 percent perceive themselves as assault victims and one-fourth of the victims blame themselves entirely for the attack.

“The main reason is the majority of those assaults are acquaintance rapes,” Eileen Lalor, a UW senior and the campus outreach coordinator of Promoting Awareness and Victim Empowerment, said. “Sexual assault is not just being sexually violated. It’s a loss of power and control. You’ve been used — that realization can be frightening.”

Dana Alder, University Health Services student services public relations manager, agreed.

“There is a lot of shame associated with rape,” Alder said. “The victim is never to blame. It’s true of any crime, but even more so with rape.”

Alder added the conference, which starts Wednesday morning and goes until 5 p.m. Thursday, is divided into approximately 15 workshops.

Lalor said there are many degrees of sexual assault and victims are often reluctant to label their experience in such frightening terms. Social culture conveys the idea women should have known better than to put themselves in high-risk situations; consequently, victims blame themselves, according to Lalor.

The WCASA webpage also revealed a disparity between the number of victims of sexual assault and the number of men who believed their actions met the legal definition of rape.

WCASA said one in 15 male college students had either raped or attempted to rape a woman, while 84 percent of men whose actions matched the legal definition of rape said they were not guilty of sexual assault.

Lalor added the advertising industry bombards men with messages making sexual assault seem acceptable.

“It’s not just communication. I really think it goes back to culture,” she said. “It’s not all men, but it’s a power issue and the larger idea of a rape culture makes it seem all right.” She described a recent cherry-vodka advertisement implying “the night is a failure if you don’t get laid.”

Lalor said she believes men are aware when women have not given consent. They don’t perceive their actions as violent, however, because social culture suggests they deserve to get what they want.

In 2002 at the Madison campus, 20 percent of undergraduate women reported having a non-consensual sexual experience, Lalor clarified. The women listed a range of ways in which they communicated their distress in the situation. Distress communication included saying “no” verbally, giving no consent, attempting to leave, trying to reason with the person, fighting back physically and crying.

Lalor said when people are engaging in sexual activity they have a responsibility to make it consensual. WCASA statistics indicated alcohol and drug use significantly raises the risk of assault.

“In situations where alcohol is involved, people still need to communicate,” Lalor said, noting she defines consent as the presence of a freely given yes, not the absence of a no. For consent to be freely given, partners must not be under pressure or so intoxicated they are oblivious to their actions, she added.

“Both people have a responsibility to make sure they get [the consent],” she said.