Key Findings from "Exploring alcohol policy approaches to prevent sexual violence  perpetration"
 
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© National Sexual Violence Resource Center 2015. All rights reserved.
This document was supported by Cooperative Agreement #5UF2CE002359-02 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the CDC.
The content of this publication may be reprinted with the following acknowledgement: This material was reprinted, with permission, from the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s publication entitled Key findings from Exploring alcohol policy approaches to prevent sexual violence perpetration written
by Caroline Lippy and Sarah DeGue et al. This guide is available by visiting www.nsvrc.org.
Key

Key Findings from "Exploring alcohol policy approaches to prevention sexual violence  perpetration"
Written by Caroline Lippy and Sarah DeGue (2014)

Research translation by NSVRC


Sexual violence prevention strategies have historically focused on individual- and
relationship- level change. While investing in prevention at these levels remains a need
in the anti-sexual violence movement, there is a growing emphasis on moving to the
outer layers of the social ecology to prevent sexual violence toward community- and societallevel
change. As this outer layer emphasis grows, the sexual violence prevention movement
will need the research and evidence to keep pace.

In their article, “Exploring alcohol policy approaches to prevent sexual violence
perpetration,” Lippy and DeGue (2014) respond to this need by exploring the available research
on alcohol policy as one potential communitylevel strategy. Consistent links between alcohol
use and sexual violence perpetration in the literature point to this as a promising approach.
While it is clear that alcohol does not cause sexual violence, the authors find some evidence
to support policies that may help to mitigate risk factors for sexual violence perpetration. This
paper helps to shed light on the great potential
of policy change to prevent sexual violence at the outer layers of the social ecology.


Background
Th  authors identified two ways that alcoholmay interact with and magnify risks for
perpetrating violence: excessive alcoholconsumption and social disorganization.

• Excessive alcohol consumption: Many studies show a direct relationship between excessive
alcohol use, such as binge drinking, and risk for committing sexual violence. The physical
and psychological effects of alcohol “interact with existing individual-level risk factors for
sexual aggression (e.g., general aggressiveness, belief in rape myths, hostility toward women,
or exposure to violence in childhood) and sociocultural norms about alcohol and gender
in ways that can encourage or facilitate male sexual aggression” (Lippy & DeGue, 2014, p.2).
However, the authors note that “alcohol use itself does not ‘cause’ or account for sexual
violence, and the socio-cognitive effects of alcohol do not place all drinkers at equal risk
for sexual violence perpetration” (Lippy & DeGue, 2014, p.2).


• Social disorganization: The authors also looked at the ways that access to alcohol within a geographic area may influence risk for sexual violence by, potentially, creating or reinforcing social disorganization in communities. Social disorganization is defined by “a decrease in social controls, collective effi acy, and resident participation in communities resulting from the disruption of informal networks and community structures like family, schools, and religious institutions” (Lippy & DeGue, 2014, p.3). For example, the authors note that areas with a higher concentration of alcohol outlets (e.g., liquor stores, bars) may attract or congregate higher-risk people in the vicinity, resulting in more violence near the outlets and a decreased sense of public order, safety, or control inthe neighborhood. This can break down connections between neighbors 
and impact social norms for behavior, ultimately increasing the risk for all forms of violence.


Policy Analysis Approach
The authors reviewed existing reports and research to better understand how policies that
reduce alcohol consumption or access might prevent the perpetration of sexual violence or
affect related risk factors.

They looked at six specific policy areas:
1. Alcohol pricing: Examples include increasing prices of alcohol through taxes and restricting
drink promotions such as “happy hour” or discounted drink specials.

2. Alcohol sale time: Examples include reducing people’s access to alcohol by limiting the days
and/or hours during which alcohol can be sold.

3. Alcohol outlet density: Examples include restricting the number of places where alcohol
can be consumed or sold within a geographic area, such as through zoning, privatization of
alcohol sales, and licensing.

[Image: Tops of green beer bottles]

4. Drinking environment: Examples include enforcing existing laws that prohibit owners
and servers from serving (over-serving) intoxicated customers or from serving underage
customers, holding owners and servers accountable for the criminal behaviors of over-served patrons, and training owners and servers to take an active role in preventing violence in the drinking environment.

5. Marketing: Examples include banning alcohol billboard ads that list the prices of
alcohol. Also, a non-policy example includes examining impacts of sexist content in alcohol
ads on self-reports of sexual violence.

6. College: Examples include alcohol (and other substance) bans in certain college dormitories
and/or campus-wide and social norms marketing campaigns designed to accurately inform student perceptions about alcohol
consumption on campus.



Findings
• Alcohol pricing: Research shows thatincreasing the price of alcohol reduces consumption and may reduce rates of sexual violence perpetration.

• Sale time: Research shows that reducing the times when people can purchase alcohol can
reduce their consumption of alcohol. This may have effects on sexual violence perpetration,
but additional research is needed.

• Alcohol outlet density: The research shows that increasing the number of alcohol outlets
(babrs, beer/liquor stores) in a geographic area increases the risk of sexual violence
victimization. More research is needed to better understand the influence of outlet type
(bar vs. store) on sexual violence rates.

• Drinking environment: There is a lack of research on the effects of policies that attempt
to influence the drinking environment and prevent violence by mobilizing servers and
other staff. Sexual violence-specific prevention policies and practices were not reviewed.
However, there is some evidence showing that barroom management strategies can reduce
physical assaults where people drink. Research is needed to examine the potential of programs
that train servers to help prevent sexual violence perpetration, specifically.

• Marketing: More research is needed to better understand if and how restricting location
and content of alcohol ads can affect alcohol consumption. Reducing sexist content in
advertising, including sexually exploitive images of women or advertisements that
portray alcohol use as a strategy to obtain sex, may influence sexual violence perpetration, but
more research is needed.

• College: Research shows that alcohol and other substance use bans on campus are
associated with lower self-reported rates of sexual victimization; however, this may
reflect the lower risk of students who choose to attend those campuses. To date, there is
no promising evidence showing that social norms campaigns are effective in preventing sexual violence. Also, research shows that the availability of alcohol in the community that
surrounds the college campus can undermine the effects of alcohol control policies on
campus.



Future Research Needs
The authors identify the following research limitations:
1. Most existing research studies do not look specifically at the effects of alcohol policy on
sexual violence. More research is needed on how alcohol policies—and policies in general—can
prevent sexual violence perpetration.

2. Most of the existing research on alcohol and sexual violence looks at sexual violence
committed by boys and men against girls and women. This overlooks the experiences of many
people. More research is needed about the intersections of alcohol, sexual violence, sexual
orientation, and gender identity.

3. Due to gaps in existing research, the authors were not able to identify the ways that policies
affected specific forms of sexual violence (rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, etc.) or types
of perpetrator (intimate partner, acquaintance, stranger). More research is needed on the effects
of alcohol, specific forms of sexual violence, and relationship contexts.


[Pop-out box: Policies
Additional policy efforts could examine
the impacts of gentrification (the arrival
of residents/businesses with wealth in a
traditionally lower-income community),
helping to further our understanding of
social cohesion/organization, alcohol,
and sexual violence risk and protection.
Further, it could be helpful to examine
the disinvestment of economic and social
assets and resources in urban centers
(sometimes referred to as “white flight”)
and how that connects to the increased
availability of alcohol and decreased
social cohesion and access to resources.
Finally, another policy area could include
the role of taxes and other economic
policies in bolstering social cohesion in
marginalized communities.]


Discussion and Application
Importance of anti-oppression and policy as a prevention approach: Social disorganization as
a framework for understanding sexual violence can be problematic. The indicators often used
to study social disorganization—poverty, femaleheaded households, race/ethnicity—can be
taken out of context and misused to perpetuate harmful stereotypes. These indicators can also
be misinterpreted to be the direct causes of sexual violence, resulting in a victim-blaming
practice that finds fault for a complex social problem in the characteristics of individuals.

In their collaborations with communities, preventionists can use these findings and work
to contextualize social disorganization and the ways that alcohol can contribute to the
deterioration of social connections and efficacy and the potential of alcohol and other policies
to address this harmful dynamic. Additionally, preventionists can use these findings to
educate policy makers and others about the need for culturally-relevant prevention
strategies that work to dismantle oppressions such as racism, classism, sexism, heterosexism,
ableism, and ageism while also mobilizing the resilience or strengths of communities.
Within the context of social disorganization,preventionists can work to influence other
policy efforts related to issues such as gentrification, white flight, and tax and other
economic policies that can bolster or drain the social cohesion of marginalized communities.


Collaborations can help address multiple
risk factors for sexual violence perpetration: The findings support the concept that sexual violence does not happen in a vacuum. Alcohol alone does not cause sexual violence, but
consuming alcohol can set into play a set of risk factors that may have already been established
at individual, relationship, community, and societal levels. These risk factors may include
beliefs about gender inequity, male entitlement to sex, tolerance of violence, and alcohol’s
effects on behavior. Preventionists can use these findings to help inform their partnerships
with substance abuse preventionists and treatment providers, colleges/universities, liquor control boards, and other community members to help mobilize communities around
responsible drinking and other sexual violence prevention strategies related to the interplay of
alcohol, sex, gender, and violence.


More practitioner-researcher partnerships are needed: This research supports the need
for greater collaborations among researchers and preventionists. The authors found that
most existing studies did not specifically examine policy effects on sexual violence,
or when they did, they were limited to heterosexual constructs. Preventionists can
use the findings to build relationships with researchers at local universities, for example,
and to help inform research priorities and methods based on the needs of the field,
so that findings can strengthen prevention strategies.

[Image: Unidentified patron at a table with a mug of beer exchanges a receipt with a male waiter]


Conculsion 
While the research does not provide a definitive, clear path forward, the findings
can help inform sexual violence prevention strategies at the community- and societal-levels
of the social ecology, mainly through policy change. Preventionists can use these findings
as a spring board to learn more about existing alcohol-related policies and regulations and to
advocate for enhancement of these policies in collaboration with communities.

Public policies have the potential to shape public perceptions about sexual violence and to support
effective prevention practices. By influencing public policy, preventionists can ensure that
the voices of survivors and communities are heard, which can result in better systems of care
as well as a stronger infrastructure for sexual violence prevention. Given that sexual violence
occurs within a context of human oppression, it is important to consider policies that promote
equity across gender, race, class, ability, age, and sexual orientation.

Policies are sometimes passed and then not always evaluated for their effectiveness.
Preventionists can help educate policy makers about root causes of sexual violence and the
need for more research and funding to support effective sexual violence prevention strategies.
Preventionists can help to evaluate policies and share evaluation findings with partners, state
and community leaders, and policy makers. Preventionists can also engage in strategies that
enable them to tell the human stories behind policies—showing how policies can positively
impact communities and survivors. More specifically, the findings from this study can be
used to enhance policies that affect alcohol price and availability, barroom management (and the
evaluation of prevention strategies with servers), sexist alcohol marketing, and college/university
substance bans.

We know that sexual violence is influenced by many factors at all levels of society. Lippy and
DeGue (2014) found that excessive alcohol consumption and social norms around both
alcohol and sexual violence help to perpetuate sexual assault. However, drinking excessively
alone does not cause a person to commit sexual violence, rather alcohol interacts with larger
community and societal norms that tolerate violence and aggression. Therefore, the authors
clearly state that banning alcohol alone will not end sexual violence; but by reducing rates of
excessive consumption at the population-level, through policy change, there is a chance that
perpetration rates can decline (Lippy & DeGue, 2014, pp. 2-3). These findings provide a helpful
framework for ongoing dialog and efforts in mobilizing public policy as a sexual violence
prevention strategy.


References
Lippy, C., & DeGue, S. (2014). Exploring alcohol policy approaches to prevent of sexual violence perpetration. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. Advance online publication. doi:10.1177/1524838014557291

[Image: Beer being poured from a beer can into a tall glass]

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