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The Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention |
Infofacts Resources:
Sexual Assault and
Alcohol and Other Drug
The National College Women Sexual Victimization (NCWSV)
study, a 1996 survey of 4,446 women sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice, defines
rape as follows:
Forced sexual intercourse including both psychological
coercion as well as physical force. Forced sexual intercourse means vaginal, anal, or oral
penetration by the offender(s). This category also includes incidents where the
penetration is from a foreign object such as a bottle. Includes attempted rapes, male as
well as female victims, and both heterosexual and homosexual rape. Attempted rape includes
verbal threats of rape.1
The NCWSV survey found that 20–25 percent of
college women are victims of an attempted or completed rape during their college careers.
In 9 out of 10 cases, the perpetrators are known to the victims. According to the survey,
12.8 percent of completed rapes, 35.0 percent of attempted rapes, and 22.9 percent of
threatened rapes take place during a date.1
In most cases, college men who rape are considered quite
normal by their peer groups and in their everyday lives.2 It should be
understood that sexual assault and acquaintance rape on campus result from multiple
factors, including perpetrator attitudes toward rape, misperception of verbal and
nonverbal cues, and alcohol and other situational risk factors.2
Perpetrator
Characteristics
Research suggests that most
college men who commit acquaintance rape or other sexual assaults perceive their behavior
as normative and reasonable. Their likelihood of committing sexual assault is associated
with certain specific characteristics, such as negative attitudes toward women and a
belief that men are entitled to sex under certain conditions (e.g., when the man has paid
for the date).2
In a study of attitudes toward rape at one college, male
students were asked if they would commit acquaintance rape if they could be assured that
no one else would find out and that they would not be punished. Only 40 percent said they
were not at all likely to rape a woman if given such an opportunity.3 Other
studies on attitudes toward rape have found similar results.4
Gang rapes on campus are most often perpetrated
by men who participate in intensive male peer groups that foster rape-supportive behaviors
and attitudes. One study of 24 alleged gang rapes found that in 22 of the 24 cases, the
perpetrators were members of fraternities or intercollegiate athletics teams.5
Involvement in these types of groups may help some men quell doubts about the
inappropriateness of their behavior, particularly when their team or fraternity holds
prestige on campus.5
Misinterpretation of
Verbal and Nonverbal Cues
Men and women frequently
interpret verbal and nonverbal cues of sexual intent differently, with men often
overestimating women’s interest in them as sexual partners based on outward signs
such as friendliness, attractiveness, and clothing.2
Misinterpretation is an important
factor, but in fact most men who commit acquaintance rapes plan their attacks in advance.6 A
typical scenario is for a perpetrator to pressure his date to drink heavily so that she
will be less capable of resisting an assault.7
Sexual
Harassment
Continual exposure to minor
forms of harassment can take a larger toll on the quality of campus life than is generally
recognized, particularly for women students.
Harassment can involve many types of
behavior, including unwanted displays of sexually explicit material, suggestive looks or
gestures, sexual teasing or comments, exposure, and deliberate touching or physical
closeness.18
One study of campus housing asked
whether students had experienced unwanted looks and gestures, sexual teasing, or
deliberate touching while in coed residence halls. About 50 percent of women residents
answered "yes" for at least one of these three categories. In addition, nearly
40 percent had experienced unwanted social contact and 30 percent unwanted kissing or
fondling.18
Men living in residence halls also
suffered harassment, with almost half reporting unwanted sexual teasing and more than 20
percent experiencing unwanted deliberate touching.18
A common characteristic of offenders is
a tendency to underestimate the impact of their harassment. The same study found that over
50 percent of these offenders believed that their behavior caused their victims no upset
or distress.18
Rape Settings
Most incidents of rape take
place in the evening. The NCWSV survey suggests that 51.8 percent of completed rapes occur
between midnight and 6 A.M., 36.5 percent occur between 6 P.M. and midnight, and 11.8
percent occur between 6 A.M. and 6 P.M.
Nearly 60.0 percent of on-campus rapes
take place in the victim’s residence, 31.0 percent in other housing areas, and 10.3
percent at a fraternity.1
Alcohol Use
The National Institute on
Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) 2002 report on college drinking estimates that more
than 70,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 survive alcohol-related sexual assault
or date rape each year.8
A national survey of more than 14,000
students found that 1.0 percent of students living in residence halls or
fraternity/sorority houses survived alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape during
2001. This study found that 19.5 percent of students experienced an unwanted sexual
advance where alcohol was involved.9
In a study of students who had been
victims of some type of sexual aggression while in college—from intimidation and
illegal restraint to rape—the women surveyed reported that 68 percent of their male
assailants had been drinking at the time of the attack.10
Alcohol and other drug use exacerbate
the problem of misinterpretation of sexual intent but are also used to justify assault.11 Most
college men believe that alcohol increases sexual arousal and legitimates nonconsensual
sexual aggression. Most also believe that women who have two or more drinks are more
interested than other women in having sex.6
Rape Drugs
Various drugs are used to facilitate rape, including alcohol,
marijuana, cocaine, gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB), benzodiazepines, ketamine, barbiturates,
chloral hydrate, methaqualone, heroin, morphine, LSD, and other hallucinogens. When
combined with alcohol, which they frequently are, such "nonalcoholic" drugs can
lead to blackout.12
Alcohol is by far the most commonly used
date-rape drug. Rohypnol and gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB) are also well known for their
incapacitating effects.13
Rohypnol, the trade name for
flunitrazepam, is used in some countries to treat insomnia but is illegal in the United
States.13 Rohypnol has many street names, such as "roofies,"
"roaches," "forget pill," "whiteys," "roach-2s,"
"trip-and-fall," "mind-erasers," and "Mexican valium."13 The
drug is available for less than $5 per pill.14
Rohypnol makes users look and act as if they were intoxicated.
Adverse effects include disorientation, confusion, dizziness, drowsiness, impaired motor
skills, impaired judgment, and unconsciousness.13
The effects are felt within 15 to 30
minutes after use and may persist for many hours. Rohypnol is very dangerous when mixed
with alcohol or other depressants; possible adverse outcomes include low blood pressure,
difficulty breathing, coma, and even death.13
Victims who were given rohypnol are
often uncertain about whether they were sexually assaulted. In addition to causing
amnesia, the drug metabolizes quickly and is undetectable 72 hours after ingestion.15
Gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB) underwent
clinical trials by the FDA as a treatment for sleep disorders, but the drug was never
approved or legalized for consumption. GHB is also known as "liquid ecstasy" and
"liquid g."13,16
GHB may cause severe memory loss,
disorientation, dizziness, drowsiness, nausea, vomiting, breathing difficulty, seizure,
unconsciousness, and coma. As with rohypnol, the drug takes effect shortly after
ingestion.13
Strategies
for Institutions of Higher Education
Because alcohol and other
drugs are involved in most acts of sexual assault on campus, college and university
administrators are under increasing pressure to acknowledge this connection and take steps
to reduce the consumption of alcohol on campus as part of a comprehensive strategy for
rape prevention.
Since research has found that
fraternities, athletics teams, and other male peer groups foster rape-supportive norms,
some experts have suggested that prevention programs can be most effective when targeting
these types of all-male forums.2
Following are five categories and
examples of environmental strategies for preventing alcohol and other drug use on campus.17
Promoting Alcohol- and Drug-Free Social,
Recreational, and Extracurricular Options and Public Service
- Sponsor alcohol- and drug-free social and recreational
options for students, such as a student center, coffeehouse, or other alcohol-free
setting. Marketing efforts for these events must clearly state the alcohol- and drug-free
guidelines for the activities.
- Sponsor and publicize volunteer and community service
opportunities for students.
Creating a Social, Academic, and Residential
Environment That Promotes Healthy Social Norms
- Develop programs targeted to male peer groups, such as
fraternities and athletics teams.
- Develop social norms marketing campaigns to correct
exaggerated misperceptions of alcohol and other drug abuse.
- Promote a healthy environment through the college
admissions procedures.
- Offer core classes in the academic schedule on Thursdays,
Fridays, and Saturdays.
- Make substance-free residence options available.
- Educate faculty and staff about behavioral indicators,
student norms, and cultural attitudes related to high-risk or illegal alcohol and other
drug use.
- Encourage faculty to interact more with students.
- Publicize pro-health messages through campus and
community media channels.
Restricting Marketing and Promotion of Alcohol
- Restrict alcohol advertising in sports stadiums and on
athletics publications.
- Reduce marketing and promotion targeted at athletes. Work
with local bar owners to limit such marketing.
Limiting Availability and Access
Work with local law enforcement to stay current with
trends related to alcohol and other drug use on campus.
Ban or restrict alcohol on campus.
Prohibit alcohol use in public places.
Prohibit delivery or use of kegs or other common
containers on campus.
Require alcohol servers to be registered and trained.
Disseminate guidelines for off-campus parties.
Regulate the number and concentration of alcohol outlets
near campus.
Advocate a rise in the costs of beer and liquor licenses.
Promote a limit to the hours of alcohol sales.
Advocate a reduction in the container size of alcoholic
beverages.
Encourage limitations regarding quantity per sale of
alcohol.
Promote required keg registration.
Encourage an increase in state alcohol taxes.
Enforcing Campus Policies and State and Local Laws
- Communicate campus alcohol and other drug policies
clearly and frequently to the community, including possible consequences for violations.
- Require registration of on-campus functions.
- Enforce ID checks at on-campus functions.
- Use undercover operations at campus pubs and on-campus
functions.
- Use patrols to observe on-campus and off-campus parties.
- Increase disciplinary sanctions for violation of campus
alcohol and other drug policies.
- Increase criminal prosecution of students for
alcohol-related offenses.
- Enforce driver’s license penalties for minors
violating alcohol laws.
- Educate sellers and servers about potential legal
liability.
- Advocate enforcement of ID checks at off-campus bars and
liquor stores.
- Enforce penalties for sale of liquor to minors.
- Enforce laws against buying alcohol for minors.
- Enforce penalties for possessing fake IDs.
- Use undercover operations at retail alcohol outlets.
- Advocate stringent enforcement of DUI laws.
- Implement roadblocks.
- Establish dramshop laws that apply legal action for
serving intoxicated drinkers or minors.
Stalking
The NCWSV survey asked
students the following question: "Has anyone—from a stranger to an
ex-boyfriend—repeatedly followed you, watched you, phoned, written, emailed, or
communicated with you in other ways that seemed obsessive and made you afraid or concerned
for your safety?"1
The study found that 13.1 percent of the female students
had been stalked during the previous school year.
In 10.3 percent of the incidents, the stalker
"forced or attempted sexual contact."
NCWSV suggests that 80 percent of victims know their
stalkers. Perpetrators are most frequently a boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, classmate,
acquaintance, friend, or coworker.1
References
1. Fisher BS, Cullen FT, Turner
MG. Sexual Victimization of College Women: Findings from Two National-Level Studies.
Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice and Bureau of Justice Statistics,
2000.
2. Berkowitz A. College Men as Perpetrators of
Acquaintance Rape and Sexual Assault: A Review of Recent Research. Journal of American
College Health 1992; 40(4): 175–181.
3. Quackenbush RL. Attitudes of College Men Toward Women
and Rape. Journal of College Student Development 1991; 32(4): 376–377.
4. Malamuth NM. Rape Proclivity Among Males. Journal
of Social Issues 1981; 37: 138–157.
5. O’Sullivan CS. Acquaintance Gang Rape on Campus.
In: Parrot A, Bechhofer L (eds.). Acquaintance Rape: The Hidden Crime. New York:
Wiley, 1991: chap. 10.
6. Abbey A. Acquaintance Rape and Alcohol Consumption on
College Campuses: How Are They Linked? Journal of American College Health 1991; 39:
165–169.
7. Martin PY, Hummer RA. Fraternities and Rape on
Campus. In: Bart PB, Moran EG (eds.). Violence Against Women: The Bloody Footprints.
Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications Inc., 1993: chap. 8.
8. Task Force of the National Advisory Council on
Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (2002). A Call to Action: Changing the Culture of Drinking
at U.S. Colleges (NIH Publication No. 02-5010). National Institute on Alcohol Abuse
and Alcoholism.
9. Wechsler H, Eun Lee J, Kuo M, Seibring M, Nelson TF
Lee, H. Trends in College Binge Drinking During a Period of Increased Prevention
Efforts: Findings from 4 Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study Surveys:
1993–2001. Journal of American College Health 2002; 50 (5): 203-217.
10. Frintner MP, Rubinson L. Acquaintance Rape: The
Influence of Alcohol, Fraternity Membership, and Sports Team Membership. Journal of Sex
Education and Therapy 1993; 19(4): 272–284.
11. Finn P. Preventing Alcohol-Related Problems on
Campus: Acquaintance Rape. A Guide for Program Coordinators. Washington, DC: The
Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention, U.S. Department of
Education, 1995.
12. Seymour RB. Date Rape Commonly Involves Use of
Drugs, Alcohol. The Brown University Digest of Addiction Theory and Application 1999;
18 (1): 4.
13. Rape Drugs. Rape Treatment Center, Santa Monica-UCLA
Medical Center. <http://www.endrape.org/drugs/index.html> (2001).
14. Phelps EF. Ravages of Rohypnol: Hoffmann-La Roche
Inc.’s Rohypnol. Security Management 1996; 40 (11): 14.
15. Flunitrazepam (Rohypnol®). Drug Enforcement
Administration, U.S. Department of Justice. <http://www.dea.gov/concern/rohypnol.htm>.
16. Haworth K. The Growing Popularity of a New Drug
Alarms Health Educators: GHB has been linked to deaths and date rapes on campuses. The
Chronicle of Higher Education July 10, 1998: A31.
17. For more information about environmental strategies
for alcohol and other drug prevention, see the Higher Education Center’s publication Environmental
Management: A Comprehensive Strategy for Reducing Alcohol and Other Drug Use on College
Campuses.
18. Cairns KV. Unwanted Sexual Attention in University
Residences. Journal of College and University Student Housing 1994; 24(1):
30–36.
The Higher Education Center for
Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention
The U.S. Department of
Education’s Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention provides
nationwide support for campus alcohol and other drug prevention efforts (see first page
for contact information).
The Center offers training and professional development
activities; technical assistance;
publications, including Preventing Alcohol-Related
Problems on Campus: Acquaintance Rape; support for the Network of Colleges and
Universities Committed to the Elimination of Drug and Alcohol Abuse; and assessment,
evaluation, and analysis activities.
The Center offers resources for violence prevention on
campus at www.edc.org/hec/violence/. The
Center’s Campuses and Other Drugs Web page includes resources on date-rape and club
drugs, found at www.edc.org/hec/drugs/.
Other
Organizations
Mentors in Violence
Prevention (MVP) Program
Northeastern University
716 Columbus Avenue, Suite 161 CP
Boston, MA 02120
(617) 373-4025
www.sportinsociety.org/mvp.html
In the MVP program, multiracial teams of former
collegiate and professional male athletes talk with boys and young men about attitudes
toward women, violence, and masculinity. Through the program, researchers seek to reduce
men’s violence against women by inspiring athletes to challenge and reconstruct
predominant male norms that equate strength in men with dominance over women. An MVP key
premise is that male student athletes can help to delegitimize "rape-supportive"
and "battering-supportive" attitudes by publicly rejecting the definitions that
reinforce them.
National Organization for Victim Assistance
(NOVA)
1730 Park Road, NW
Washington, DC 20010
(202) 232-6682; Fax (202) 462-2255
www.try-nova.org
NOVA offers aid, information, and referrals for victims
of all types of crime and provides special trainings and technical assistance to support
crisis-response programs that address violence on college campuses. Its manual Responding
to Communities in Crisis includes a section for colleges and universities. NOVA also
operates a national 24-hour victim telephone hotline at (800)879-6682.
Rape Treatment Center
Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center
1250 16th St.
Santa Monica, CA 90404
(310) 319-4000
www.911rape.org/
The Rape Treatment Center established the National
Campus Rape Program. The program distributes Sexual Assault on Campus: What Colleges
Can Do, a report outlining policies and programs colleges can adopt to decrease sexual
violence and provide support for students who are victimized. It also produced the
20-minute award-winning documentary film Campus Rape, which explores the problem of
sexual assault and presents prevention information. Campus Rape and other center
materials address the role of alcohol and drugs such as rohypnol in sexual assault.
Safe Schools Coalition
P.O. Box 1338
Holmes Beach, FL 34218-1338
(941) 778-6652
www.ed.mtu.edu/safe
The Safe Schools Coalition is a network of community,
school, student, and other organizations that sponsors annual conferences on various
violence prevention topics, including sexual assault and other violence on college
campuses. Its Web site maintains a list of violence prevention resources.
National Interfraternity Conference
3901 West 86th St.
Suite 390
Indianapolis, IN 46268-1791
(317) 872-1112
www.nicindy.org
The National Interfraternity Conference (NIC) represents
63 member fraternities on more than 800 college campuses. The organization provides
resources and services to member fraternities and colleges on a range of topics of
interest to Greek societies, including the prevention of substance abuse and sexual
assault.
NIC distributes the 20-minute video "Playing the
Game," designed as a discussion starter, and "Stop . . . Look . . .
Listen," an experiential game designed to help college men and women candidly discuss
male/female relationships, health issues, positive sexual communication, and sexual
assault.
NIC also distributes the Our Chapter/Our Choice Program,
a peer-led workshop developed by Dr. Jeff Linkenbach and designed to help Greek society
chapters reassess alcohol and other drug norms.
Security On Campus, Inc.
601 South Henderson Road
Suite 205
King Of Prussia, PA 19406
(888) 251-7959
www.campussafety.org/
Security On Campus, Inc. (SOC), founded in 1987, is a
nonprofit grassroots organization dedicated to fostering safe campus environments. SOC
educates prospective students, parents, and the campus community about the prevalence of
crime on campus and assists victims and their families with guidance pertaining to laws,
victims’ organizations, legal counsel, and access to information. SOC also fosters
security improvements through campus community initiatives and provides effective
procedures and programs to reduce alcohol and other drug abuse.
Other
Internet Resources
Resources for Addressing
Sexual Harassment
U.S. Department of Education
Office for Civil Rights
Customer Service Team
Mary E. Switzer Building
330 C Street, SW
Washington, DC 20202
(800) 421-3481
www.ed.gov/offices/OCR/sexharassresources.html
This site offers resources on sexual harassment and hate
crimes, and includes the publication Protecting Students from Harassment and Hate
Crime: A Guide for Schools.
Minnesota Center Against Violence & Abuse
School of Social Work
University of Minnesota
105 Peters Hall
1404 Gortner Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55108-6142
(612) 624-0721
http://www.mincava.umn.edu
This organization maintains an electronic clearinghouse
on the World Wide Web, with access to thousands of Gopher servers, interactive discussion
groups, newsgroups, and Web sites around the world. The clearinghouse includes a directory
of federal and private funding sources that support violence prevention programs.
Pavnet Online: Partnerships Against Violence
John Gladstone
(301) 504-5462
www.pavnet.org/
Pavnet Online is a federal interagency electronic
resource on the Internet created to provide information about effective violence
prevention initiatives.
This publication has been funded in part with
federal funds from the U.S. Department of Education under contracts numbered SS95013001
and ED-99-CO-0094 with Education Development Center, Inc. The content of this publication
does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Education,
nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement
by the U.S. Government. Published 1997. Revised January 2001, July 2002.
Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, with
supplemental funding from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
July 2002
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