Victoria, 34 years old

«My drunk husband demanded love when we were at home.»

Alex, 50 years old

«Once I was hit on the head and my cash was taken, but probably a sober person would also be hit.»

Aisha, 36 years old

«The most serious violence was that my father used to beat me for everything that alcohol had caused. It was a serious psychological trauma.

Later I began to drink more, falling asleep in tears from self-pity. I began to drink without any joy, but in order to kill the heartache from my father’s betrayal and misunderstanding.»

Ivan, 34 years old

«When I was drunk, I mostly was the one who began to make violence. It was usually caused by the fact that I did not control what I was saying: I became aggressive, rude and impudent. I behaved as if I was immortal.

Because of this, I had some serious fights. I can’t say that I had a fight actually: I was beaten and that was it. But there were no serious consequences, only a pair of scars.»

Gregory, 45 years old

«Once when I was drunk I punched my friend in the jaw. At that time I read a lot about boxing and wanted to show what I can do.»

Darth Givi, 46 years old

«I abused people and people abused me. One of the events I remember best is the situation when I nearly strangled my drinking companion.

Luckily, we were not alone. I was dragged from him. The next morning, I saw bruises from my hands on the guy’s neck. I almost burst into tears and asked him to forgive me. I also seriously wanted to kill my drinking partner when I was drunk. But he kicked me and broke my face with Martens shoes*.»

* heavy boots with steel toes

All names were changed

Facts

Alcohol can stimulate aggressive behavior. It weakens brain mechanisms that restrain impulsive behaviors and impairs information processing. An intoxicated person restrains himself worse and worse understands what this may lead to.

63% of intimate partner violence incidents, 37% of sexual assaults, 45-46% of physical assaults and 40-45% of homicides in the United States involved use of alcohol.