10% of teenagers are putting they health at risk by binge drinking
10% of teenagers binge drink once a week
20% of teenagers binge drink once a month*

Young women are opening themselves up to unplanned and sometimes unwanted sexual encounters by binge drinking.

A yet to be published study carried out by the University of Wollongong has found that many young women aged between 18 and 25 binge drink up to 4 times a month.

Now NSW Police Commissioner Mr Andrew Scipione is urging young women to ”look out for your mates” and help protect them from potential sexual assault when they are heavily influenced by the effects of alcohol during a big night out.

He warns that not being fully in control due to excessive amounts of alcohol can lead to psychological trauma, STD’s and potential infertility due to dangerous and unplanned sexual opportunities that may arise.

“It sounds crude and at first you think: ‘Too much detail,'” Mr Scipione said. “But in certain parts of the UK, I know [police] suggest to women that if you’re going to go out and you’re planning on having sex tonight, tell a girlfriend. If you’re not, tell a girlfriend.

“If they see you wandering off with a male that they don’t know and they see you in a state of intoxication – and it’s not your intention to have sex tonight – then [they] stop the girl. They may be a victim of a crime; they may be [the] subject of a drink spiking.”

“In the past we always saw this overuse, the abuse, the drunken behaviour, the violent behaviour, the stupid behaviour … that was predominantly the domain of young men. It’s not that way anymore,” Mr Scipione said.

“It’s now unfortunately something that’s seen as cool: to be drunk as a young woman. For the life of me, I don’t know what’s that attractive about some young woman vomiting in the gutter at 3am after a big night.”

Perhaps young women need to take more responsibility for their actions and decide beforehand on how many drinks they will have or make an agreement with their friends to stop at a certain point or leave a venue before things get out of hand.

The Wollongong researchers observed that “It appears that young female Australian university students who consume alcohol at harmful levels are more likely to experience potentially harmful sexual situations, the outcomes of which could include unintended pregnancy, contracting an STI, and physical and emotional harm from unwanted sexual contact.”

The director of the university’s Centre for Health Initiatives, Sandra Jones, told the Sydney Morning Herald that popular culture did nothing to help deter young people, especially women, from drinking and engaging in dangerous sexual acts.

*Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2010.

Writer Helen Splarn. Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha.
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald