Alcohol and Rape

Assault in all forms is dangerous to both men and women. Sexual assault on college campuses is fairly common today, and occurs in a number of ways. Young women are most often the main victims of assault on college campuses. This is becoming a serious issue in American society today because either some of these cases go unreported or these young women are too scared to report them or are too embarrassed to report it because the men causing these might be their friends or someone they know. Many young women face this kind of problem, especially when in college. It is mostly at college parties where girls are at risk of having drinks that have been “roofied.” Roofied drinks are drinks that have been spiked with drugs and are most often used by men against women to make them sleepy or cause them to black out. These men are able to take advantage of these vulnerable women. It is difficult to tell if a drink is roofied as the color, taste and odor of the drink remains the same. These actions also put out a bad image of the “good” men and the men that actually care about a women’s safety and wellbeing. As a result, women will naturally form opinions based on experiences they have and will tend to be more cautious.

In addition to deaths, college drinking is linked to 500,000 injuries and 70,000 cases of sexual assault or rape. Furthermore,

There is a definite correlation between alcohol and sexual assault. A sexual assault can be defined as a sexual act occurring without verbal consent, or when force is used in a sexual encounter against the other person's will. Of all the men who admit to committing sexual assault, 55% report being under the influence of alcohol at the time, with 26% of the men being drunk (Stanford University, 1999). Of all the women who report being sexually assaulted, 53% of them report being under the influence of alcohol, with 21% of these women being drunk (Stanford University, 1999). These facts suggest that alcohol is a major factor in sexual assaults. Crimes such as these could be greatly reduced if

The alarming increase in sexual assault among male and female students is a source of concern. Despite improvements in the general statistics on rape cases, the college setting remains to be the hot bed of sexual assault, especially among the female counterparts (Allen, 2007). A victim, regardless being a male or a female, never feel safe in their life as something precious was taken from them once. Statistics show that 17.6% of women are likely to be victims of rape in their entire lifetime while only 0.3% of males are estimated to be the victims of sexual assault. According to the National Violence Against Women Survey (NVAWS), the most critical ages men and females are likely to be engaged in sexual abuse is when they are children or adolescents (Gonzales, Schofield & Schmitt, 2006).

     There are two sides to a rape, the rapist and the victim. The victim is most of the time a woman but men are raped as well. It is a common myth that there is a type of woman that is more likely to be raped. This is indeed a myth, most of the time rape is a crime of opportunity, the victim is not chosen because of her looks or behavior, but because she is there (Benedict 2). The average rape victim is 18-39 years old and female, the average rapist is 25 years old and male. The effect of rape on a woman is an enormous one. The woman will come away from a rape with both physical and psychological damage. Eventually the physical wounds will heal, the psychological wounds will take quite some time before or if they ever heal (Grady 4). A sexual assault robs the woman of a sense of control; a feeling of loss of freedom is common among rape victims. To put her life in order she must regain this sense of control. Almost all rape victims suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (Benedict 2). The first symptom is the reliving or re-experiencing of the

This study focuses on high risk and low risk environments and relationship interactions to gain a perspective on rape culture. According to, “ FRATERNITIES AND COLLEGIATE RAPE Culture: Why Are Some Fraternities More Dangerous Places for Women?” by Boswell and Spade (1996) indicate that the relationship that is developed between men and women influence the way in which people are treated. Women and men often seek relationships differently then each other. The environments in which people interact impact the quality of relationship building. Along with values of the culture people are living in also influence the type of interactions seen as worthy or unworthy. The researchers in this study observes and interview people in a college setting based apon lifestyle choices such as living arrangements, the campus’ social setting, social environments, participation, interactions, values, awareness, relationship characteristics, respect, aggression, and interpersonal

Sexual assault is sexual activity of any kind that does not involve the other person’s consent. Sexual assault includes rape, forced sodomy, forced oral sex, and any form of unwanted sexual touching. Most common types of sexual assault are mostly affiliated with the drugs of roofies or GHB being slipped into a drink. This often appears to happen at college parties. According to research, “the typical scenario of sexual assault on college campus includes the woman’s drinking at a party and playing drinking games, a situation where she has been given a drink in which the alcohol has been disguised as punch” (Bohmer, Parrot 20). Popular culture depicts college as a place for free booze and sexual conquests, as sensationalized by popular movies like “Project X” and “22nd Jump Street.” Consequently, the public medium portray partying and binge-drinking as the typical college and teenage social norm. Oftentimes, college is the first opportunity for young individuals to live away from home. For many, college is a time of sexual freedom, exploration, and experimentation. According to Julie E. Samuels from

A majority of sexual assaults involving college students involve drugs or alcohol. Advocates say this is one reason the prevalence rate of assaults continues to be high, and also partly why so few are ever

In Daniel Luzer’s article titled “Is Alcohol Really to Blame for the Prevalence of Sexual Assault on College Campuses?” published on November 18th, 2013 by Pacific Standard, the reality about sexual assault is shared. While in college, many teens are reporting more sexual assault cases on campus, but is alcohol really to blame? Due to the consumption of alcohol, behavior changes occur for both men and women. Many believe girls are at fault for putting themselves in the position to be assaulted because of their decision to drink. On the other hand, people also blame the boys for their drunken violence towards girls while intoxicated. Alcohol is not the only misdemeanor in this case. Throughout history, changes are occurring in teens’ social

In Daniel Luzer’s article “Is Alcohol Really to Blame for the Prevalence of Sexual Assault on College Campuses?” published on November 18, 2013 in Pacific Standard, the truth about the cause of increasing sexual assault is discussed. From the constant disagreement about how many women are actually a victim of rape while in college, the alleged reasoning for these numbers is due to alcohol consumption. Throughout the text, Luzer examines different articles about alcohol consumption relating directly to cases of rape. Different viewpoints are discussed like tell women not to drink during college and warn women about the dangers of drinking. Both of these actions have been taken, and the numbers in the Washington region are still increasing. More

Studies have shown that the amount of drinking that goes on in colleges is higher than anywhere else and that alcohol is the underlying cause in 50% of date rape cases. There is a strong negative correlation between low GPA scores and the amount of alcohol consumption in college students. The drinking age has been raised in many states in an effort to curtail the number of car accidents; this movement has reduced the number of car accidents (Barlow and Durand, 2006).

There are still quite a few debates and questions revolving around the correlation between alcohol and/or drug use and sexual aggression and sexual assault (Swartout & White, 2010). It has been shown that males in college exhibit higher levels of sexually aggressive behaviours. In a national survey conducted on college men, 25.1% of them, before the age of fourteen, said that they had

p. 69).” rape is violence against women. It is a violation of her body and her trust. According to Burns, a sociologist at Michigan State University, “rape is forced and unwanted intercourse, where sexual assault is used as a power and sex is a method (Mousseau, 2006. p. 1).” Most rapes are committed not by strangers, but by men known to women, perhaps someone they have gone out with or are supposedly their friends. It can be someone she just met or even her fiancé, but often it is an attempt to assert power or anger. A study by the National Center for the Preventive and Control rape claims ninety percent of rapes are never reported. In those that are reported, sixty percent knew their assailants. Of these, women fifteen to twenty-five are majority of the victims. Alcohol and drugs sometimes play a significant factor, especially in date rape or acquaintance rape cases (Mousseau, 2006).

In the United States rape completely toxic and it’s a dangerous myth. On college campuses where drinking is prevalent, most victims don’t report their assault to the police because of the fear of being blamed for the incident. “A recent National Crime Victimization report showed that only 55% of sexual assaults reported in their survey were reported to the police” (Hayes, Abbott, Cook 2016). Hayes goes on to explain that rape myths are defined as “attitudes and false belief held

     Webster’s Dictionary describes rape as the crime of forcing another person to submit to sex acts, especially sexual intercourse. Rape is a crime in which most women cannot defend themselves. The fear of rape plagues every woman at some point or another in her life. The traumatic effects of rape vary from mild to severe, from psychological to physical. This paper will evaluate rape, as well as the effects it has on women, the theory behind male dominance and patriarchy, and differences in demographics.