Alcohol and Sexual Assault

Alcohol Research & Health, Wntr, 2001 by Antonia Abbey, Tina Zawacki, Philip O. Buck, Monique Clinton, Pam Mcauslan

The second point at which alcohol plays a role in sexual assault is when the man forces sex on a woman against the woman's wishes. Alcohol is not necessary in this scenario, because some men feel entitled to force sex on women if they feel that they have been "led on" or teased (Abbey et al. 1994). The cognitive deficits associated with alcohol consumption, however, can enhance a man's likelihood of behaving aggressively, because an intoxicated man may have more difficulty generating non-aggressive solutions to gaining sexual satisfaction. Thus, when a man is intoxicated, he can more easily focus on his immediate sexual gratification, sense of entitlement, and anger, rather than on his internalized sense of appropriate behavior, future regret, the victim's suffering, or the possibility that he will be punished for his actions. Furthermore, in laboratory studies, intoxicated men tend to retaliate strongly when they feel threatened, and once they begin behaving aggressively, they can only be stopped with great difficulty (Taylor and Chermack 1993). Accordingly, if an intoxicated man feels that his female companion has implicitly agreed to sex, he may perceive any resistance as a threat and thus become aggressive in retaliation. The effect of his aggressive behavior is further exacerbated if the woman is intoxicated, because alcohol's effects on motor skills may limit her ability to resist effectively (Koss and Dinero 1989).

To support the aforementioned hypotheses, researchers must demonstrate that sexual assaults involving intoxicated perpetrators and/or intoxicated victims are more likely than other sexual assaults to include extreme levels of forced sex, more violent behavior, and more injuries to the victim. In fact, some studies indicate that completed rapes (as opposed to attempted rapes) are more common among intoxicated victims than among sober victims, suggesting that intoxicated women are less able than sober women to resist an assault effectively (Abbey et al. 1 996b; Harrington and Leitenberg 1994).

Surprisingly, recent studies focusing on alcohol consumption among men have not confirmed that drinking men are more likely to successfully commit rape, as opposed to attempt rape but fail in their efforts. Nonetheless, more serious victim injuries have been associated with alcohol consumption by the perpetrator (Martin and Bachman 1998; UlIman et al. 1999). These studies, however, suffer from serious methodological limitations with respect to measuring the perpetrators' alcohol consumption. The investigators assessed only whether the perpetrators consumed any alcohol before the assault and did nor determine how much alcohol the perpetrators consumed or how far in advance of the assaults the drinking occurred. Consequently, the studies did not provide conclusions as to how intoxicated the perpetrators were at the times of the assaults. For example, men who had consumed only one drink several hours before the assault may nor have been intoxicated at all. Conversely, men who were extremely intoxicated may have experienced sexual and motor impairments that made sexual assault completion unlikely.