1. Jean Nidetch Women’s Center and
P.A.A.V.E. (Peers Advocating Anti-Violence Education)
Present:

2. Jean Nidetch Women’s Center
 Workshops and presentations
 Events on campus
 Advocacy for violence prevention and breast
cancer awareness
 Academic involvement
 Four on staff, certified victim advocates

3. P.A.A.V.E
Peers Advocating Anti-Violence Education
 Formerly known as SAFE Team, began in
2002
 Presenters complete an
18-hour training on domestic violence, sexual
assault, and stalking

4. Overview
 Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, and Alcohol
Facilitated Sexual Assault
 Definitions
 Consent
 Statistics
 Effects on Victims
 Rethinking Violence
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqHYeCLBG6s&playnext
=1&list=PL66015E1E63A0A300

5. Definitions
 Sexual assault is a broader category that the
Justice Department uses to classify rape, attempted
rape and other violent felonies that fall short of
rape.

6. Statistics
 The F.B.I. estimates that one in three women in
this country will be sexually assaulted in her
lifetime.
 According to the National College Health Risk
Behavior Survey, one in five undergraduate
women have been raped.
 In the majority of rape cases, 84%, the perpetrator
is someone the victim knows- a partner, spouse,
classmate, date, co-worker, neighbor, or family
member.

7.  Nevada Revised Statutes: Sexual Assault
“A person who subjects another person to sexual
penetration, or who forces another person to
make a sexual penetration on himself or
another, against the victim’s will or under
conditions in which the perpetrator knows or
should know that the victim is mentally or
physically incapable of resisting or
understanding the nature of his conduct, is guilty
of sexual assault”

8.  Consent?
 Physically Unable?
 Unconscious
 Physically powerless
 Unable to Communicate
 Helpless
 Unaware
 Physically Disabled

9. Mentally Unable?
 Incapacitated
 Mentally incapable of resisting or consenting
Degree of intoxication
 Were the victims motor skills impaired?
 Was the victim able to perceive what was happening
around them?
 Who gave the victim the drinks or drugs?
 Was it the accused?
 Did accused encourage the victim to drink or use more
drugs?

10. What is consent?
Both parties are fully conscious.
Both parties have equal ability to act.
Both parties are positive and sincere in their desires.
Both parties have clearly communicated their intent.
Why don’t people get consent?
 Fear of Rejection
 May hear partner is a survivor
 May not know how

11. How do I get consent?
 Hypothetical situations…
 “What if we…”
 “How would you feel if we…”
 “What do you think about…”
 I statements…
 Coercion is NOT consent

12. Did victim:
 Vomit?
 Urinate?
 Defecate?
Could victim:
 Walk?
 Talk?
 Did victim have to be helped with physical tasks?
Did defendant:
 Carry victim?
 Follow victim?

13. Ethanol And Blackouts
 Blackout: Periods of memory loss for events that transpired while a
person was drinking
 (no loss of consciousness- not passed out)
 Ethanol induced memory impairment includes disruption to the
hippocampus which plays a central role in formation of new
memory.
Ethanol And Passouts
 Alcohol-induced unconsciousness
 Not asleep, but sedated-due to CNS depressant effect
 Resembles sedated state associated with surgery
 Can last for hours
 Groggy-sedated feeling can linger for 24 hours

14. Courage in a Can

15. Prevalence of Alcohol Facilitated
Sexual Assault (AFSA)
 97,000 college students between the ages of 18 and
24 are the victim of alcohol related sexual assaults
each year.
(National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism: A Snapshot of Annual High-Risk College
Drinking Consequences. )
 Victims of drug-facilitated or incapacitated rape were
less likely than victims of forcible rape to report to
authorities.
(Kilpatrick, Dean, PhD, et al, Drug-facilitated, Incapacitated and Forcible Rape: A National
Study (2007))

16. What IS Alcohol-Facilitated
Sexual Assault
(AFSA)?
Victim is too drunk to consent for 1 of 3 reasons:
 Surreptitious administration by assailant
 Mixing of prescription or over the counter
drugs with alcohol or recreational drugs
 Recreational use by victim

17. The Role of Alcohol
Alcohol is the most common drug used to facilitate
sexual assaults- particularly among college students. As
opposed to other drugs (such as GHB and Rohypnol) that
are often given to victims without their knowledge, alcohol
is often consumed consensually.
Perpetrators often take advantage of victims who are
already intoxicated, or purposefully get a target drunk in
order to facilitate a sexual assault. These perpetrators
most often have had much less to drink than the victim and
in some cases have not consumed alcohol at all.

18. Victim May Be Incapacitated Due To The
Effects Of:
 Alcohol alone
 Alcohol mixed with drugs surreptitiously
administered by assailant
 Alcohol mixed with prescription, over the
counter drugs
 Alcohol mixed with recreational drugs
* synergistic effect of combining drugs

19. Synergistic Effect
 The interaction of two or more substances or
other agents to produce a combined effect
that is greater than the sum of their separate
effects

20. Central Nervous System Depression Of Ethanol
 Impairs judgment
 Depresses learned social and cultural inhibitions
 Impairs self-evaluation
 Euphoria
 Memory loss
 Shortened attention span
 Sedation
 Blurred vision
 Altered distance perception
 Impaired hearing
 Reduced muscle coordination
 Increased reaction time
 Light fixation
(J. C. Garriott. (1996) Medicolegal Aspects of Alcohol. Tucson, AZ)

21. The Reality
 Approximately 50% of all sexual assaults are committed by
a man who has been drinking.
(Abbey et al. (2004))
 In a nationwide survey of college students, 68% of sexual
assaults involved alcohol consumption by the offender.
(Fisher et al. (2003))
 Is there any evidence the accused selected victim because
they knew they would be an easy target?
 Did the accused use Coercion? Threats? Force?
 Did the victim say no?

22. Sexual Predator vs. Just Some Drunk
 Accused’s degree of intoxication, capacity to do other
things
 Any planning, manipulation or attempts to deceive
victim
 Accused’s attempts to control the situation and
overcome victim’s will, e.g., providing alcohol or
drugs, isolation, lies

23. Themes
 Sexual assault is all about control.
 A predator picks their prey.
 Who needs force when you have alcohol?
 Drunk victims are less able to resist.
 The perpetrator picks a victim with no ability to
choose/someone they feel entitled to/ easy victim/
victim with no memory; they had a plan.

24. Body Shots

25. Effects on Victims
 Can be short or long term
 Cutting/ self-mutilation
 Eating disorders
 Depression
 Alcohol and substance abuse
 Re-entrance into a violent relationship
 Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)*
- More information on PTSD and violence is
available upon request
 Academic Career

26. Conclusion
 Anyone can be a victim of sexual assault or
domestic violence. If you or someone you know
is involved with interpersonal violence know that
there are confidential resources to help you.
Local Resources
 Rape Crisis Center
◦ 366-1640
 More information available at:
◦ The Jean Nidetch Women’s Center, UNLV
SSC A, 255 – 702.895.4475