Border Girls: AOD Use, Abuse, and Victimization

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): On a typical weekend, more than 7,000 young Americans cross the U.S. border at San Diego into Tijuana, Mexico. PIRE's recent cross-border work reveals that, less than a mile from the border gates, a strip of all night bars caters to young American drinkers. Here, alcohol is cheap and plentiful. The legal drinking age is 18--three years younger than the American minimum legal drinking age--and loosely enforced. The atmosphere is festive, enforcement is lax, and disruptive behavior is often overlooked. Inherent to this environment is violence--and of special concern in this proposal is the violence directed at young women aged 20 and younger. Many of the young women crossing the border seek a "good time" and an opportunity to "break loose" from traditional constraints. Preliminary studies suggest that these young women may be unaware of the possible dangers in this drinking environment. Unfortunately, many discover those risks only when they become victims of harassment, aggression, and violence. The data collected in this research project will provide an overall understanding of the extent of cross-border drinking/drugging and victimization experiences of young women. These data will enhance the existing prevention program framework by directly addressing the risks associated with heavy alcohol/drug use for young women crossing the border. Most relevant to this proposal is that the information gained from the first year of data collection will lead to the development of an intervention to reduce the level of alcohol/drug use and the risks of victimization for young women crossing into Mexico, which then will be tested as a feasibility study.