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Student Counseling Services

Alcohol and Sexual Assault

Alcohol use by the victim and/or perpetrator is frequently associated with acquaintance rape. Alcohol use significantly increases your vulnerability to sexual assault.

  • One study found that 70% of women and 80% of men had been drinking when a sexual assault occurred.
  • Men often drink to feel less inhibited, more powerful, aroused, and aggressive. Peer pressure also tends to encourage rowdy and aggressive behavior.
  • Alcohol impairs judgment. Men are more likely to assume that a woman who drinks is a willing sex partner; they are more likely to interpret her behavior, dress or body language as evidence she wants to have sex.
  • Alcohol lowers inhibitions – it makes it easier to force sex on an unwilling partner and to ignore “No’s”.
  • Alcohol impairs the victim’s ability to recognize a potentially dangerous situation. When drinking, one may not notice someone’s persistent attempts to get them to an isolated location or to get them to consume more alcohol. Intoxication also makes it much more difficult to successfully resist a sexual assault – alcohol produces a slow and ineffective response to an attack.
  • Legally, an individual cannot consent to sex if they are drunk; having sex without consent is RAPE/sexual assault.
  • Individuals who are drunk when they are assaulted often feel responsible for the assault. Our society is more apt to excuse male drinking behavior, but when a woman drinks and is raped, we hold her responsible for everything – including the behavior of her assailant. Please know that the victim is NEVER to blame for an assault, the person who committed the assault is fully responsible.
  • The majority of sexual assaults are planned, and assailants take advantage of the fact that alcohol or other drugs increase vulnerability.

Alcohol and Risk Reduction:

  •  If you choose to drink, know your limits and stick to them. Have one drink with alcohol and the next one without alcohol.
  • Avoid parties where “getting wasted” is the only reason for going
  • Go out with friends, and return home with friends. Do not leave friends behind.
  • Adopt a “sober buddy” system – designate one person who will remain sober and watch out for friends. Do not allow friends to wander off with someone they do not know well.
  • If someone has passed out, do not leave them alone. Turn them on their side and call 911, do not assume they will “just sleep it off”.
  • Educate yourself about date rape drugs:
    • do not leave your drink unattended
    • do not accept a drink in an open container
    • do not accept a drink from someone you do not know well
    • avoid taking drinks from a punch bowl / "Jungle Juice"
    • don’t drink anything that has an unusual taste or appearance