Alcohol and Violence


            In spite of the happy images portrayed in alcohol advertising, alcohol
            is actually closely linked to assault, domestic violence, date rape and
            other forms of violent crime. Here are the facts:

            • Alcohol availability is closely related to violent assaults.
              Communities and neighborhoods that have more bars and other
              liquor stores per capita experience more assaults.

            • Alcohol use is frequently associated with violence between intimate
              partners. Two-thirds of victims of intimate partner violence reported
              that alcohol was involved in the incident.

            • Women whose partners abused alcohol were 3.6 times more likely than other women to be assaulted by
              their partners.

            • In 2002, more than 70,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 were victims of alcohol-related sexual
              assault in the U.S.

            • An estimated 480,000 children are mistreated each year by a caretaker with alcohol problems.

            • Violence committed by youth was more common in minority neighborhoods where there are many outlets that
              sell alcohol for consumption off the premises (such as liquor and convenience stores).

            • Large taverns and nightclubs and similar establishments that are primarily devoted to drinking have higher
              rates of assaults among customers.

            • Approximately 40 percent of people experiencing violence are young adults ages 18 – 30.

            • Two locations – bars and homes – stood out as the most likely settings for violence. Men were more likely to be
              the target of severe violence in bars: 30 percent of the most severe incidents involving men as victims, from
              both the general population and college samples, occurred in or around a bar. For women, bars were less
              frequently the scene of severe violent victimization; 22 percent of the most severe episodes reported by the
              women sample occurred in or around a bar. Fifty percent of the most severe episodes reported by women in
              the community sample and 63 percent of the most severe episodes reported by women in the college sample
              occurred in the home.

            • Laboratory research demonstrates that intoxicated people are more aggressive than sober people.
              Approximately one-third of the aggression experienced by women in bars was sexual in nature.



            Sources:
            Marin Institute
            Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation
            National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism