Alcohol and Drug-facilitated Sexual Assault
Responsible Action Guidelines
UW-Madison has adopted the Responsible Action Guidelines, which state the following:
- In those cases where a student has been a victim of sexual assault and/or a violent crime while under the influence of alcohol, neither the Dean of Students, University Housing nor UW-Madison Police will pursue disciplinary actions against the student victim (or against a witness) for his or her improper use of alcohol (e.g., underage drinking). Read more »
Please don't let underage drinking keep you from getting help!
These are drugs that can incapacitate you and make you an easier target for sexual assault. Most drugs used for date rape fall under one of these categories:
- sedatives: make you feel weak or knock you unconscious
- dissociative drugs: make you feel disconnected from or unable to control your body
- hallucinogens: make you hallucinate and disoriented
- drugs that cause amnesia.
These drugs take away your control so that the perpetrator is the one in charge of the situation. In certain doses, any drug can leave you helpless. In other words, any drug can be used in a sexual assault, including alcohol, marijuana, Ecstasy, and other drugs, as well as “traditional” date rape drugs such as GHB, Rohypnol, Clonazepam, ketamine, and chloral hydrate.
Alcohol is almost always involved in date rape. Alcohol itself is the most popular date rape drug, and when other date rape drugs are used they are usually hidden in alcoholic drinks. (However, these drugs can be hidden in any beverage.)
More information on date rape drugs:
