Alcohol plays role in sexual assault
When asked if they have ever been raped, most women say “no.” When asked if they have ever been “threatened” or “physically forced to have sex,” at least 20 percent of women say “yes.” This troubles Antonia Abbey, PhD, associate professor of community medicine, who is working on two grants to study perspectives of victims and perpetrators in sexual assault. The National Institutes of Health grants, which total nearly $1.5 million, explore alcohol as a confounding variable in cases of sexual assault. Although researchers have previously documented the co-occurrence of alcohol consumption and assault, little information is available about the causal dynamics of this relationship. “We know alcohol is involved in many crimes, but we are trying to explore whether or not these crimes would happen if the participants were not drinking,” said Dr. Abbey. Her studies suggest that alcohol skews men’s perceptions of women’s sexual intentions, so that intoxicated men perceive women’s neutral behaviors as sexually permissive or suggestive. These misperceptions are strongly correlated with alcohol consumption. In fact, in Dr. Abbey’s laboratory studies, no placebo effect was distinguishable at all. That is, people who drank perceived situations as sexually-charged. On the other hand, people who only thought they were consuming alcoholic beverages appropriately read sexual cues and responsiveness. “Alcohol has an effect on processes of thinking and reasoning,” said Dr. Abbey. “When somebody is drinking, it is harder to weigh pros and cons in a situation. It is harder to interpret subtleties and ambiguous cues. One is also less likely to consider consequences. This probably has an effect on whether or not somebody feels entitled to force sex.” The concept of acceptable forced sex also intrigues Dr. Abbey, who has found through her studies, that teens and young adults feel it is sometimes acceptable to force or expect sex, regardless of the partner’s intentions or wishes. “Kids hear messages like ‘just say no,’ but they seem to believe that there are situations when coercion and steady persistence is acceptable,” said Dr. Abbey. “Then they don’t understand what happens when it goes too far.” The combined results of these studies are intended to form the foundation for a model to examine the role of alcohol in sexual assault. In addition, this research will provide concrete information which can be used in prevention and treatment programs for sexual assault perpetrators. |
