Study 'Challenges Misconception' That Drunk Rape Victims Have 'Unreliable' Memories

Victims of sex crimes under the influence of alcohol can provide accounts "just as accurate" as those that are sober, a study has found, reigniting calls for police to change the way they deal with rape victims. Researchers examined the influence of alcohol on a women's ability to remember a sex attack by quizzing them about an "interactive hypothetical" scenario 24 hours and four months after it had occurred. The study was undertaken to challenge the "misconception that intoxicated victims and witnesses are unreliable".Dr Heather Flowe, who led the study, said alcohol consumption heavily impacts the way crime victims are dealt with: “When a victim is intoxicated during the crime, questions about the accuracy of testimony are raised in the minds of criminal investigators. Out of these concerns, the police might forgo interviewing victims who were intoxicated during the offence.

"On the other hand, almost always in sexual offences, the victim is the only one who can provide information about the crime to investigators."The University of Leicester study found that while intoxicated participants reported fewer pieces of information - than those who were sober - the accuracy of what was recalled "did not differ". It concluded: "Intoxicated participants could accurately retain information from the event as well as those who were sober".
Detective Inspector Reme Gibson from Leicestershire Police’s Rape Investigation Unit said: “It has been a long held misconception that victims and witnesses who are intoxicated are not able to give as good an account as they would when they are sober."The delays in speaking with victims accounts sometimes for loss of potential evidence, although alcohol is not the only factor that would influence whether or not an officer would interview a victim."
He said working with the research team was a "huge benefit to our understanding of the effects alcohol has on memory".

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/08/18/intoxicated-sex-crime-victims-can-give-accurate-evidence_n_8003208.html?utm_hp_ref=uk

I think, could be wrong though as it's never happened to me thankfully, that as soon as something horrific like that happens, you'd soon sober up.