Barriers to addressing alcohol use in college sexual assault prevention: Where we stand and future steps.

Abstract

The aims of this paper are two-fold. First, we review the current evidence on sexual assault prevention programming that also targets alcohol. Second, we identify barriers to including alcohol use in sexual assault programs and provide recommendations to overcome these barriers. We identified six sexual assault programs that also include alcohol use content, four of which have yet to be rigorously evaluated. To further refine sexual assault prevention efforts, we identified four barriers that need to be overcome including: (1) alcohol and sexual assault prevent efforts are currently siloed, (2) fear of victim blaming when integrating alcohol into programs for women, (3) a lack of evidence on how alcohol impacts bystanders, and (4) uncertainty about how to include content related to alcohol and sexual consent communicated. Researchers and preventionists with expertise in alcohol and/or sexual assault prevention need to work together with stakeholders and students on college campuses to overcome these barriers and address a key correlate of sexual assault.