CONTENTS

About This Course

Table of Contents

1. Getting The Basics
2. Substance Abuse
3. Violence Against Women
4. Violent Men
5. Alcohol and Violence
6. Alcohol, Drugs and Sexual Assault (Date Rape)
7. Preventing Sexual Assault
8. After a Rape or Sexual Assault
9. Assistance - Women
10. Assistance - Men
11. Legal Options

Supplements
Resources
Glossary
Fact Sheets

It Won't Happen to Me:
Substance Abuse-Related Violence Against Women for Anyone Concerned About The Issues

Common Characteristics of Alcohol Abuse and Domestic Violence

Alcohol abuse and domestic violence have a few characteristics in common, including the following:

• They both can be passed down from generation to generation.
• Both involve denying and minimizing the problem.
• Both may involve isolation of both the perpetrator and the victim or family.
• A central issue for both is power and control.²

Women of all ages can become victims of physical, emotional, psychological, economic, and sexual abuse. Any woman who becomes a victim is at risk of abusing alcohol and other substances to cope with the pain and shame. Some abusive partners force women to drink or do drugs under the threat of further physical violence if they refuse. Many women do not recognize that alcohol and drugs put them at risk for further violence.

Destructive drinking and violence in the home can exist before a couple gets married. Bad habits (abusive drinking and/or being verbally or physically violent) often are established in childhood and during the dating years. In abusive relationships where there is also destructive drinking, the central issue tends to be the need of one partner to exercise power and control over the other.³

The men who abuse their partners at home do not often get into fights at work or with their friends. They confine their violence to someone they know they can beat. Also, if they did fight at work, they might face criminal or social sanctions or be fired. Abusive men need power and control, so they focus on the person whom they see as weaker,usually their female partner or child. Men who abuse alcohol are also trying to maintain control, even though alcohol has the opposite result: A person becomes more out of control the more he drinks.

For example, let's say Jim is feeling stressed out (not in control). He might stop at a bar and have a few drinks with his buddies. The alcohol, however, does not give Jim more control. It does just the opposite. It impairs his judgment and movements. Later, when he returns home, his anger toward his partner makes him feel even more out of control. This cycle results in Jim's feeling worse about himself and his situation. This feeling increases the possibility of further anxiety and outbursts.