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Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault


According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, there were 272,350 victims of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assaults in 2006,10 but it is unknown how many were drug facilitated. Many factors contribute to this lack of data, including the short period of time that drugs can be detected in victims' systems, victims' confusion about what happened, and victims' uncertainty about reporting. There has been some research, however, on sexual assault involving alcohol:11

  • Alcohol use among sex offenders ranges from 34 to 74 percent.
  • Alcohol use among victims of sexual assault ranges from 30 to 79 percent.
  • Sexual assaults involving alcohol are more likely than other sexual assaults to occur between people who do not know each other well.
  • Alcohol-facilitated sexual assaults tend to occur at parties or in bars rather than the victim's or attacker's home.