Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center
Information > Sexual Assault > Alcohol and Sexual Assault
The substance most often detected in association with date rape is alcohol; however, alcohol is NEVER the cause of rape. It is a tool that perpetrators often use to decrease a person’s ability to give consent.
The Facts
- Because intoxication diminishes a person’s cognitive abilities, someone who has been drinking is more likely to perceive another’s friendly cues as sexual advances. Likewise, if the other person is also drinking, s/he may be unaware that his/her cues are being misperceived.
- Alcohol use may encourage the expression of traditional male and female roles regarding sexuality. Men may feel obligated to be the aggressor in sexual situations, while women may feel obliged to be passive and submissive.
- Alcohol use may raise certain expectancies about both male and female behavior under the influence of alcohol. A man may feel as though he is expected to be more aggressive, and may also ascribe to stereotypes about the sexual availability of women who drink.
- Intoxication may make someone physically less able to resist an assault.
- Alcohol is often used by perpetrators as an excuse for their actions, and as an attempt to shift responsibility for the assault away from themselves and onto the survivor.
Download a PDF (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)
topics within
Information
Information
- Sexual Assault
- Criminal Sexual Conduct
- Common Reactions
- Options For You
- How to Help
- Consent and Coercion
- Alcohol
- Rape Drugs
- Sexual Assault Myths
- Male Survivors
- Reporting to the Police
- LGBT Survivors
- Survivors with Disabilities
- Women of Color Survivors
- Myth of the Black Rapist
- Dating/ Domestic Violence
- Sexual Harassment
- Stalking
- Statistics