The serious issue is that the county has seen a 60 percent jump in the number of "rape by intoxication" cases prosecuted in 2008 compared to 2007.
"A lot of young people don't realize that even if a girl says 'yes,' if she has been drinking, she is not in a position to give that consent," said San Diego District Attorney, Bonnie Dumanis. "Perpetrators can go to prison for up to eight years."
In the movie "Observe and Report," Seth Rogen's character takes advantage of his dream girl played by Anna Faris after she's consumed too much.
The movie makes light of having sex with a barely consious person. Bonnie isn't laughing.
Dumanis addressed her concerns about the increase Thursday while announcing a new campaign to spread the message and stop the acts of violence among children 18 and under. So what's the DA's new secret weapon?
Yup, you guessed it. They've built a website.
The online "Anti-Rape Campaign" will house videos featuring sexual assault victims, prosecutors and college fraternity members - each discussing what not to do when faced with the chance to have sex when your partner is drunk.
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It's commendable that prosecutors are spending money to build a website,KnowThePrice.org, to explain what's legal and what isn't. But you have to ask, is anyone listening?
This isn't the first time either. The first campaign, a website called WastedSex.com, was aimed at college-age students. The new campaign, funded by a grant from the Child Abuse Prevention Foundation, is aimed at kids 18-years old and younger.
When asked why a second website was created when the first may not have done the trick, Steve Walker, a spokesperson for the DA's office, explained that the increase in cases from 2007 to 2008 may be due to an increase in reporting versus an increase in the crime itself.
Walker went on to say it's tough to draw a direct line between the success of the ad campaign and the number of cases reported. The department only hopes that by continuing to educate, fewer people will be victimized.
One positive point is the campaign includes ads that will run in movie theaters in San Diego County this summer. I think we all agree, it's better to spend money to hit a captive audience waiting for the movie to start, than to try and compete for teenagers' eyes against YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, Hulu, Yelp, Bolt........
