| Information |
| Resources |
| Issues |
Sexual Violence and Substance Abuse
On average, each year about 183,000 (37%) rapes and sexual assaults involve alcohol use by the offender, which is about 1/3 of the total sexual assaults that occur each year. (Greenfeld, L. Alcohol and Crime: An Analysis of National Data on the Prevalence of Alcohol Involvement in Crime. U.S. Department of Justice, 1998). 75% of male college students and 55% of female college students involved in date rape had been drinking or using drugs at the time. (Koss, M.P. 1998. Hidden Rape: Incident, Prevalence, and Descriptive Characteristics of Sexual Aggression and Victimization in a National Sample of College Students. Rape and Sexual Assault, Vol. II. Edited by A.W. Burgess. New York: Garland Publishing Company).
Date rape drugs such as Rohypnol and GHB (Gamma Hydroxybutyrate) can be given to victims without their knowledge, often by slipping it into a drink, and can prevent the victim from resisting a sexual assault. The drugs create an amnesia-effect so that the victim is uncertain as to what-if-anything occurred. (Sexuality Information and Education Council or the United States, Fact Sheet-Drug Facilitated Sexual Assaults, 28 April, 2000).
Analysis of a sample of urine drug tests of sexual assault victims demonstrated that alcohol was present in 63% of the victims, marijuana was present in 30% of the victims and GHB and Rohypnol were present in about 3% of positive samples. (Slaughter, L. nvolvement of Drugs in Sexual Assaults. Journal of Reproductive Medicine. Vol. 45. 2000). 38-45% of women in substance abuse treatment programs are survivors of sexual violence. (Steele, C.T. Sexual Abuse and Chemical Dependency. The Source. Vol. 8, no. 3. 1998).