Alcohol consumption does not impair women’s ability to remember sexual assaults, study finds
- One study found that drunk women are not significantly worse at remembering details
- Less than 3 percent of alleged rapes end with charges or subpoenas
A study claims that a few drinks don’t affect a woman’s ability to accurately recall a sexual assault.
The rate of rape convictions in the UK is notoriously low, with police investigations and court hearings often casting doubt on women’s memories of events because they were drunk.
Now researchers say women who have consumed alcohol are not significantly worse at remembering key details of a sexual assault.
A study of 90 women aged 18 to 32 gave them a fictional scenario in which they met and struck up a conversation with a man named Michael at a bar or party.
Half of the study participants drank vodka and tonic three times on an empty stomach. The others had tonic water in a mug that contained a vodka-soaked lime and some vodka on the rim, so they weren’t sure if they were consuming an alcoholic beverage.
Researchers say that women who have consumed alcohol are not significantly worse at remembering important details of a sexual assault
Professor Heather Flowe, who led the study from Birmingham University, said it suggested that “rape creates strong memories of certain harrowing details, independent of alcohol consumption”.
At 22 different points in the scenario – read aloud on a computer, with a female voice also reading it out loud – they could choose to continue or “end the night”.
Almost one in five women continued the scenario to the end and had imaginary consensual sex with Michael after going home with him. The 83 percent who finished the night were told he refused to take “no” for an answer and raped her.
The women who had drunk alcohol were questioned about this fictitious rape after being asked to imagine, no less accurately, in their memories, that it had happened to them.
Participants, who were made aware of the study’s topic before signing up, tended to remember the sexual assault better when they expected to drink alcohol.
The researchers said women may be “overly alert” to dangerous behavior by men if they know they might be drunk.
Professor Heather Flowe, who led the study from the University of Birmingham, said it suggested that “rape creates strong memories of certain harrowing details, independent of alcohol consumption”.
Less than 3 per cent of alleged rapes in England and Wales result in a charge or summons to court.