Students’ perceptions of the relationship between sexual violence and alcohol use: qualitative findings from three public university campuses

Abstract

Objective: Examine undergraduate students’ perceptions of the connections between alcohol consumption and sexual violence, associated campus-based prevention efforts, and recommendations for improvements. Participants: Undergraduate students (n = 244) at three large public universities. Methods: Qualitative thematic secondary analysis was conducted using data from 86 in-depth interviews and 27 focus group discussions conducted January–June 2019. Results: Student responses depicted complicated connections between alcohol use, consent, and sexual violence. Students indicated confusion about consent when both parties were intoxicated and stated that existing prevention programming was inadequate. Students recommended integrating elements of consent into campus alcohol prevention and information about alcohol’s effects into sexual violence prevention programming. Conclusion: This study centers undergraduate students’ perceptions of the connection between sexual violence and alcohol, and their recommendations on how to address the often-co-occurring harms. Universities must integrate alcohol and sexual violence prevention programming to respond to the realities of undergraduate students more effectively.