This evidence review summarizes the the complex scientific literature on the relationship between alcohol use and sexual assault. This resource highlights the importance of reducing alcohol use among college students as one component of a multi-faceted approach to preventing sexual assault on college campuses.
Recognize the Complexity of the Association.

Recognize the Complexity of the Association

Alcohol use does not cause sexual assault, but it can be a major contributing factor.1-10

Research studies have found that about half of sexual assaults on college campuses involve a situation in which the perpetrator, the survivor, or bothwere consuming alcohol.1-5Sexual assaults were more likely to occur in settings where alcohol was consumed (e.g.,parties, bars).11-13  Potential perpetrators seek out such settings as a way of finding vulnerable individuals.Alcohol should be seen as a risk factor for—not a cause of—unwanted sexual advances and other forms of sexual assault.

Sexual assaults involving alcohol more often occur among individuals who know each other casually as acquaintances, rather than among individuals in romantic relationships.3,14-16

Alcohol consumption is associated with aggression and loss of inhibition.9,17 

Several decades of research has demonstrated that alcohol can increase the likelihood of intimate partner violence.2,17  When a relationship situation is potentially dangerous, alcohol can be seen as “adding fuel to the fire.”Alcohol might increase sexual arousal, disinhibition, and aggression among perpetrators; heavier drinkers also have personality characteristics that are associated with perpetration (e.g., antisocial behavior, orientation toward impersonal sex).13 Perpetrators might also use alcohol as a means to justify their behavior or diminish their level of responsibility.

Reducing Alcohol Use is One Piece of a Multifaceted Approach to Reducing Sexual Assault

Reducing underage and excessive drinking among college students is good practice to promote the safety and health of students.

Excessive alcohol consumption among college students is a contributory factor for unintentional injury risk, fatalities,and sexual assault.18-21Alcohol use is related to the risk forsexual assault in the way that icy sidewalks can contribute to falls:People can fall on a dry sidewalk, but the presence of ice increases a person’s susceptibility for experiencing a dangerous fall. Similarly,sexual assault can and does occur without alcohol consumption by the perpetrator or survivor, but the presence of alcohol increases a person’s susceptibility for experiencing sexual assault.

Eliminating stigma around alcohol-involved sexual victimization is essential to support survivors.

Survivors who were drinking at the time of a sexual assault report high levels of distress, self-blame, and negative reactions from others.1,9,16,22Theyoften fear they will not be believed or will be blamed. Support services must be comprehensive and help survivors overcome the traumatic aftermath of victimization, regardless of whether the survivor was drinking.

Reducing alcohol use through individual-and environmental-level interventions is an important component of a comprehensive campus strategy to reducesexual assault.23,24

• • A recent experimental study compared the risk forcompleted rapes among female participants who wererandomly assigned to a sexual assault prevention program(which included targeting excessive drinking) or to a control group.24After one year, 5.2% of the women who received the training experienced a rape vs. 9.8% of the control group. Attempted rape was also significantly different at one year between the groups (3.4% vs. 9.3%).
  • Helping potential victims to be less susceptible to assailants is only one part of the solution. To address sexual assault comprehensively, approaches must recognize the complex causes of violence against women and men, encourage bystanders to intervene, provide guidance regarding healthy relationships early in life, and reduce alcohol availability.24-28

Perpetrators are legally and morally responsible for their actions.
Data on alcohol and sexual assault can empower potential victims.1,3,14,15

REFERENCES:

1. .Abbey A, Zawacki T, Buck PO, Clinton AM, McAuslan P. Alcohol and sexual assault. Alcohol Res Health. 2001;25(1):43–51.
2.  Crowell NA, Burgess AW. Understanding violence against women.Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 1996.
3.  Abbey A, Ross LT, McDuffie D, McAuslan P. Alcohol and dating risk factors for sexual assault among college women. Psychol Women Q. 1996;20(1):147–169.
4.  Abbey A, McAuslan P, Ross LT. Sexual assault perpetration by college men: The role of alcohol, misperception of sexual intent, and sexual beliefs and experiences. J Soc Clin Psychol. 1998;17(2):167–195.
5.  Harrington NT, Leitenberg H. Relationship between alcohol consumption and victim behaviors immediately preceding sexual aggression by an acquaintance. Violence Vict. 1994;9(4):315–324.
6.  Mohler–Kuo M, Dowdall GW, Koss MP, Wechsler H. Correlates of rape while intoxicated in a national sample of college women. J Stud Alcohol. 2004;65(1):37–45.
7.  Kilpatrick DG, Resnick HS, Ruggiero KJ, Conoscenti LM, McCauley J. Drug–facilitated, incapacitated, and forcible rape: A national study. Charleston, SC: Medical University of South Carolina, National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center;2007.
8.  Reed E, Amaro H, Matsumoto A, Kaysen D. The relation between interpersonal violence and substance use among a sample of university students: Examination of the role of victim and perpetrator substance use. Addict Behav. 2009;34(3):316–318.
9.  Testa M, Livingston JA. Alcohol consumption and women’s vulnerability to sexual victimization: Can reducing women’s drinking prevent rape? Subst Use Misuse. 2009;44(9/10):1349–1376.
10. McCauley JL, Calhoun KS, Gidycz CA. Binge drinking and rape: A prospective examination of college women with a history of previous sexual victimization. J Interpers Violence. 2010;25(9):1655–1668.
11. Graham K, Bernards S, Wayne Osgood D, et al. ‘Blurred lines?’ Sexual aggression and barroom culture. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2014;38(5):1416–1424.
12. Mumford EA, Kelley–Baker T, Romano E. Sexual assault histories and evening drinking among young American men in a high–risk drinking environment. J Sex Res. 2011;48(1):53–61.
13. Testa M, Cleveland MJ. Does alcohol contribute to college men’s sexual assault perpetration? Between–and within–person effects over five semesters. J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2017;78(1):5–13.
14. Abbey A, Zawacki T, Buck PO, Clinton AM, McAuslan P. Sexual assault and alcohol consumption: What do we know about their relationship and what types  of research are still needed? Aggress Violent Behav. 2004;9(3):271–303.
15. Abbey A. Alcohol–related sexual assault: A common problem among college students. J Stud Alcohol Suppl. 2002;14:118–128.
16. Littleton H, Grills–Taquechel A, Axsom D. Impaired and incapacitated rape victims: Assault characteristics and post–assault experiences. Violence Vict. 2009;24(4):439–457.
17. Leonard KE. Alcohol and intimate partner violence: When can we say that heavy drinking is a contributing cause of violence? Addiction. 2005;100(4):422–425.
18. Hingson RW, Heeren T, Zakocs RC, Kopstein A, Wechsler H. Magnitude of alcohol–related mortality and morbidity among U.S. college students ages 18–24. J Stud Alcohol. 2002;63(2):136–144.
19. Hingson R, Heeren T, Winter M, Wechsler H. Magnitude of alcohol–related mortality and morbidity among U.S. college students ages 18–24: Changes from 1998 to 2001. Annu Rev Public Health. 2005;26(1):259–279.
20. Hingson RW, Zha W. Age of drinking onset, alcohol use disorders, frequent heavy drinkingdrinking, and unintentionally injuring oneself and others after drinking. Pediatrics. 2009;123(6):1477–1484.
21. White A, Hingson R. The burden of alcohol use: Excessive alcohol consumption and related consequences among college students.Alcohol Res. 2014;35(2):201–218.
22. Ullman SE, Najdowski CJ. Understanding alcohol–related sexual assaults: Characteristics and consequences. Violence Vict. 2010;25(1):29–44.
23. Gilmore AK, Lewis MA, George WH. A randomized controlled trial targeting alcohol use and sexual assault risk among college women at high risk for victimization. Behav Res Ther. 2015;74:38–49.
24. Senn CY, Eliasziw M, Barata PC, et al. Efficacy of a sexual assault resistance program for university women. N Engl J Med. 2015;372(24):2326–2335.
25. Borges AM, Banyard VL, Moynihan MM. Clarifying consent: Primary prevention of sexual assault on a college campus. J Prev Interv Community. 2008;36(1–2):75–88. 
26. Gidycz CA, Orchowski LM, Berkowitz AD. Preventing sexual aggression among college men: An evaluation of a social norms and bystander intervention program. Violence Against Women. 2011;17(6):720–742.
27. Scribner RA, Mason KE, Simonsen NR, et al. An ecological analysis of alcohol–outlet density and campus–reported violence at 32 U.S. colleges. J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2010;71(2):184–191.
28. Babor TF, Caetano R, Casswell S, et al. Alcohol: No ordinary commodity: Research and public policy.Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press 2010

Suggested citation: Maryland Collaborative to Reduce College Drinking and Related Problems. (2016). Sexual assault and alcohol: What the research evidence tells us.College Park, MD: Center on Young Adult Health and Development