Students Who Drink Alcohol at Greater Risk For Sexual Assualt

Researchers at the State University of Buffalo have concluded that female students are at greater risk for sexual and violent assault when they drink alcohol. First year students face the greatest threat (particularly if they are not experienced drinkers) and the more alcohol that is consumed, the greater the risk of victimization.

The findings come as no great surprise to personnel familiar with campus assaults, although critics have been quick to find fault in a study that seems to blame a woman for drinking, instead of blaming a man for assaulting.

Emily Mellor, a member of the Female Majority Leadership Alliance at Brown University gave her thoughts on the study as, "The only thing you can take from it is if you drink, you get assaulted, and I don't think it's the fault of the person who drank if they get assaulted. People who are sexually assaulting others are using alcohol as a weapon."

Brown University peer counselor Hee Kyung Chung agrees that the study may appear one sided, but argues that since you cannot control, or easily study, the offender; a women can keep safe by making responsible life choices and avoiding drinking to excess.