Women who attend colleges with a higher rate of binge drinking are more likely to be raped while intoxicated, according to a national study released Thursday.
The three-year study, which sampled women at 119 schools in 40 states, found that since the beginning of the current school year, one in 20 women reported being raped in college. Nearly three-quarters of the incidents happened when victims were so intoxicated they were unable to say no, it found.
The study defines binge drinking as five or more drinks in a row for men and four or more drinks in a row for women. A college where more than 50 percent of the student body reported instances of binge drinking is considered to have a high rate. One where fewer than 35 percent of students were binge drinkers is considered to have a low rate.
“The major form of rape on college campuses is when a woman is unable to consent because of being under the influence,” said Henry Wechsler, one of the authors of the study and director of the College Alcohol Studies program at the Harvard School of Public Health.
“I want to make sure that colleges are not just aware of this but try to coordinate their alcohol … programs and policies with rape policies,” he said.
The ease with which college students can obtain low-cost liquor, and the prevailing notion that alcohol is an inherent part of college life, play a significant part in persuading students to turn to drinking as way of having fun, Wechsler said.
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“If you give people a situation in which it’s cheaper to get drunk than go to a movie on a weekend, you may induce some people to drink more than they would under other circumstances,” he said.
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BYTHENUMBERS
1 in 20
Number of women who reported being raped in college.
3 out of 4
Estimated number of incidents that happened when victims
were so intoxicated they were unable to say no.