When the head of the International Monetary Fund (a 187-country organization that oversees the global economy), Dominique Strauss-Kahn booked a swanky hotel suite in Manhattan, the housekeeper did what she always does: waited until the room was empty and then went inside to clean it. Little did she know, Strauss-Kahn was still in the room and had locked the door. The maid was then sexually assaulted and had no way of calling for help until the man left.

Sexual harassment is one of the oldest crimes in the book and it’s one that often seems to go unpunished. In today’s R-rated, “sex sells” culture, sexual harassment can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time. And it does. All too often.

Fortunately, Strauss-Kahn was taken into police custody and will begin a long sequence of trials and lawsuits. But what about the rest of us? When a government elite is involved with a scandal, the whole world knows about it, but what about people no one knows about? Hopefully, you’ll never have to experience something as painful and scary as sexual harassment, but in order to protect yourself, you should know the facts.

The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission defines sexual harassment as “unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature.” Yes, that’s right: sexual harassment DOES NOT have to include actual intercourse or even physical acts of any kind. When a creepy co-worker won’t stop hitting on you, the stranger on the train won’t stop pressing their leg against yours (even when you move away), that’s still sexual harassment and deserves to be punished.

In order to keep yourself safe from harassment of any type, take the following precautions. Read More »

April kicks off national STD Awareness month. I know it doesn’t sound like much fun, but neither does Syphillis.

In conjunction with the national effort to raise awareness of the spread of Sexually Transmitted Diseases across college campuses (1 in 4 young women have them!), CollegeCandy will be having our very own STD awareness day on Thursday, April 2nd.

We have invited experts in the field to share their knowledge and experience with us in hopes that we can prevent the spread of these diseases and protect ourselves.

There is so much that young women don’t know about STDs – how they spread, how they can affect our health, if we have them…. – so we thought we’d bring in a doctor to answer everything.

Is there anything you’d like to know? Really, anything. Let us know in the comments section and we’ll pass it on to our friend, Dr. Lissa Rankin. There is no question too “icky” to ask. If you’re a little shy about your issue, email us and we’ll pass it on anonymously.

The more we know the safer we will be, so ask away and come back April 2nd to get your answers. In the meantime, go get tested! We did.

Leah Walsh, a 29-year-old special education teacher from Long Island, NY, has been missing since Monday morning. Her abandoned car was found on the side of the road and appeared to have a flat tire. This is still considered a missing person investigation, however, it was reported by the Associated Press around noon today that an unidentified woman’s body was found approximately 13 miles from Walsh’s abandoned car. It has not yet been confirmed as of now whether the body was that of Walsh.

The cases of missing women have become much too common a scenario lately, and we cannot be too careful when we are out and about. The story of Leah Walsh should stand as a reminder to women everywhere that we must learn ways to protect ourselves and stay safe.

Here are some tips to protect yourself when you are alone at night, or even during daylight hours:

1. Always be aware. Know your surroundings and who is around the area. If you are walking along, do not talk on your phone or text your friends. Your lack of attention makes you an easy target for anyone wishing to harm you.

2. Carry pepper spray or mace and attach it to your keychain. When you are walking alone, always have it out and ready to spray. (And keep your keys out as well!) No, you will not accidentally spray yourself with it.

3. When going out to the bars or clubs do not carry huge, oversized purses (especially if living in a big city). These are perfect targets for muggers: they think that because the bag is bigger there is more cool and expensive stuff to steal. Read More »

It started like any other night. My roommates and I were too lazy to cook anything and too cold to leave the house for carry-out, so we ordered in some good greasy Chinese food. As the eight of us gathered around our kitchen table to dig in, I looked outside and noticed someone standing in the dark out on the driveway we shared with our next door neighbors.

“Look, Matt’s outside on the phone,” I called the rest of my roommates to the window.

The next door neighbors were a group of 8 boys that we were really close to. Seeing neighbor Matt outside, my roommates and I immediately started banging on the window and waving at him. Matt turned to look at us and we screamed and knocked a little harder. I started laughing; Matt was staring at us pretending to masturbate. [No, there is no really fun way to put that. And yes, it was really funny at the time.]

“I don’t think he’s pretending, Lauren” My roommate looked at me, concerned.

“Um. I don’t think that’s Matt,” another of my roommates chimed in. Read More »