Exploring Alcohol Policy Approaches to Prevent Sexual Violence Perpetration

Abstract

Sexual violence continues to be a significant public health problem worldwide with serious consequences for individuals and communities. The implementation of prevention strategies that address risk and protective factors for sexual violence at the community level are important components of a comprehensive approach, but few such strategies have been identified or evaluated. The current review explores one potential opportunity for preventing sexual violence perpetration at the community level: alcohol policy. Alcohol policy has the potential to impact sexual violence perpetration through the direct effects of excessive alcohol consumption on behavior or through the impact of alcohol and alcohol outlets on social organization within communities. Policies affecting alcohol pricing, sale time, outlet density, drinking environment, marketing, and college environment are reviewed to identify existing evidence of impact on rates of sexual violence or related outcomes, including risk factors and related health behaviors. Several policy areas with initial evidence of an association with sexual violence outcomes were identified, including policies affecting alcohol pricing, alcohol outlet density, barroom management, sexist content in alcohol marketing, and policies banning alcohol on campus and in substance-free dorms. We identify other policy areas with evidence of an impact on related outcomes and risk factors that may also hold potential as a preventative approach for sexual violence perpetration. Evidence from the current review suggests that alcohol policy may represent one promising avenue for the prevention of sexual violence perpetration at the community level, but additional research is needed to directly examine effects on sexual violence outcomes.

Toward the Next Generation of Bystander Prevention of Sexual and Relationship Violence

“…Introduction it is also promoted by the community-by friends who support the use of coercion in relationships, bartenders or teachers who look the other way when demeaning comments are made or when someone's personal boundaries are encroached upon, neighbors who lack a sense of trust and common purpose with one another, and social policies that do not adequately address social disorganization (Lippy and DeGue 2015;Tharp et al 2012). Thus our prevention efforts should be broader than potential perpetrators or victims (Banyard et al 2003;.…”

“…Social disorganization theory (Lippy and DeGue 2014; is also relevant to understanding the potential role of bystanders. This theory describes how neighborhood factors, including economic resources, neighborhood disorganization, as well as relationships between members of the community impact the occurrence of crime Frye et al 2012;Malik et al 1997;Rothman et al 2011a, b;Snyder et al 2012;Weiss 2011).…”

Do alcohol pricing and availability policies have differential effects on sub-populations? A commentary

“…There was limited evidence of an association between alcohol prices, or hours and days of sale, and IPV. Lippy and DeGue's (2014) review concluded that alcohol pricing, privatization, and permissive licensing policies that increased access to alcohol were related to sexual behavior in the community or higher rates of sexual violence victimization. …”

A Comprehensive Approach to Sexual Violence Prevention

“…10 At the broader community level, given observations that the number of on-premises alcohol outlets in a defined geographic area was positively associated with police-reported rates of rape, 11 alcohol policies related to outlet density and other areas warrant consideration among approaches to reduce sexual violence. 12 Rigorous evaluation of all the promising strategies described here and others is required to increase the evidence base for prevention. 7 …”