Alcohol and Drug-Facilitated Sexual Violence

• Approximately 50% of all sexual assault victims report to have been drinking at the time of the assault.*
• The vast majority of all campus rapes occur when alcohol has been used by either the assailant or the victim*.

Drinking is a typical part of the college experience for many students. Unfortunately, most sexual batteries are related to alcohol use. Alcohol, however is not an excuse for sexual violence, or violence of any kind. Alcohol can escalate abuse and cause violence to be more lethal. Alcohol and other drugs are also used to facilitate sexual violence. Someone who has been drugged cannot give consent.

Perpetrators can be manipulative and use alcohol to “loosen up” or incapacitate their victims. Some perpetrators encourage their targeted victims to keep drinking until the victim passes out so they can sexually batter the victims. Perpetrators also use alcohol as an excuse for aggression and committing sexual violence.

Using drugs to facilitate sexual violence is a felony!

The use of drugs to facilitate sexual violence is a first degree felony in Florida, and is punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

Rohypnol (“roofies”), club drugs, and prescribed drugs can cause severe motor function and memory problems, and can even cause coma or death in some victims.