*The Loquitur Editorial staff would like to make it clear that we all stand with Christine Blasey Ford and anyone else who has ever been sexually assaulted.
A lot of pressure is put on adolescents when it comes to sexual activities, drinking and other risky behaviors. According to the 2017 NSDUH, about 7.4 million Americans between the ages of 12 and 20 report current alcohol consumption. The NSDUH describes that this statistic displays that 20 percent of this age group’s population is consuming alcohol illegally.
Going away to college is a lot of student’s first time without being under the guidance of their parents or guardians. Drinking is very common on college campuses, especially among first-year college students. Students are experimenting with a lot of new and different experiences and they are all thrown on them at one time.
According to the National Greek Life Statistics, more than eight hundred universities in the United States and Canada participate in Greek Life. Although Greek Life is known to bring a lot of positive impact on campuses, it is also known to bring a lot of hardships to them as well. One of those hardships is sexual assault – which, according to many people, in a lot of cases, being under the influence of alcohol is one of the largest contributing factors to sexual assault on college campuses.
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Sexual Assault, at least one-half of all violent crimes involve alcohol consumption by the perpetrator, the victim, or both. A lot of times in cases of sexual assault, you hear the assaulter claiming that the victim “wanted it” or, in other words, gave consent. Alcohol can blur one’s judgment, decision making, and memory. A person’s drunken consent is not legal consent.
In situations like the Brett Kavanaugh case, it was often brought up that Kavanaugh was a big drinker in high school and college. Whether or not Kavanaugh is proven guilty, he was immediately stigmatized for drinking in high school and college. A good majority of high school and college students consume alcohol at one point or another. Although, this does not mean that all of those people should be associated as someone who would sexually assault someone.
There should be absolutely no excuses when it comes to sexual assault. “He was drunk” or “she was drunk,” shouldn’t apply. Drinking and sexual assault don’t correlate with each other in any setting. Drinking is never an excuse for sexual assault, and it shouldn’t be looked at as one.
