One out of every eight female UW-Madison students will be sexually assaulted by the time she graduates, but the majority of victims will never report the crime, according to a University Health Services official.
This makes for a dangerous'and often silent'crime that becomes even more ambiguous once alcohol enters the picture.
The Associated Students of Madison addressed the relationship between alcohol and sexual assault at its annual town hall meeting Thursday. Speakers, including Ald. Tom Powell, District 5, and UHS Violence Prevention Coordinator Lori Henn, spoke of alcohol, sexual violence and the campus impact.
\While we know alcohol is often a factor in sexual assault, we don't know what exactly that relationship is,"" Henn said.
The meeting came at an appropriate time, said Phil Ejercito, chair of ASM's campus relations committee. A bill is making its way through the state legislature that seeks to address how alcohol's role in sexual assault is defined. Under current state law, a person who has sexual contact with an individual under the influence of an intoxicant is guilty of sexual assault.
But alcoholic beverages are not included in the definition of ""intoxicant,"" making it very difficult for victims intoxicated by alcohol to claim sexual assault, Powell said.
Five years ago, alcohol was removed from the sexual-assault definition. This bill, co-drafted by Rep. Terese Berceau, would bring it back.
The bill would make victims of sexual assault, who were intoxicated as underage drinkers, immune from drinking laws. Currently, underage drinkers who are sexually assaulted can be prosecuted for underage drinking if they step forward.
""The fear of prosecution for underage drinking can prevent victims from reporting the assault,"" Powell said. ""That type of scenario is not likely to happen again with this bill.\
