There are several reasons why alcohol increases the likelihood of sexual assaults. The National Institute of Justice identifies the following factors, to which I'll add some of my own explanations:
- Alcohol use can lead to increased aggressive behavior -- so a person who might otherwise act respectfully toward others can become sexually aggressive.
- Alcohol use inhibits a person's ability to interpret another person's behavior and signals. So a man might think a woman "wants it" when she really doesn't, and when she says no and tries to fight him off he'll think she's "playing."
- When on a date, alcohol use makes both men and women more likely to think that sex will be a part of the date. Though both may begin the date with that thought, it then can also happen that one person doesn't have a desire for the date to end in sex, but the other insists it will.
- Alcohol consumption makes individuals take risks they would normally avoid. So a woman may not safeguard herself the way she would normally because she's under the influence of alcohol, and be more in danger of becoming a victim of assault.
- Alcohol can undermine an individual's capability to resist sexual advances or a sexual assault. If a person is in an intoxicated state, she may become unable to fight back or remove herself from an assault situation.
