DUI Defenses for Women

Due to physical and chemical differences in their biological structure, women and men are affected differently by alcohol. There has been substantial evidence that the effects of alcohol on women are greater than the effects on men. The following clarifies some of these differences:

Alcohol Dilution Ability

The average woman has 9% less body water than the average man. This means that a woman and man of equal size may have differing responses to the same amount of alcohol, with the woman feeling the effects more.

Alcohol Metabolizing Ability

Women produce less of an important liver enzyme, which breaks down alcohol, than men. For this reason, alcohol lingers longer in a woman’s system than a man’s.

The Effects of Hormones

When a woman is premenstrual, certain hormonal fluctuations can cause alcohol to have an intensified, faster effect for a number of days preceding menstruation. Certain medicines which contain estrogen, as well as contraceptive pills, can decrease the speed at which alcohol is broken down.

Long-term Damage Caused by Alcohol is Greater in Women

Women who are heavy drinkers are at greater risk of liver disease, damage to the pancreas and high blood pressure than male heavy drinkers. Proportionately more alcoholic women die from cirrhosis than do alcoholic men.

The various alcohol tests have not been designed for women, and breathalyzers are not designed in such a way that testing women’s blood alcohol levels is effective. A man’s lung capacity is often considerably different to that of a woman of a similar size. A breathalyzer may read a woman’s blood alcohol as being higher. Because most officers are trained to respond to DUI cases in which the suspects are men, many lack the training to deal with women and the general differences in their physiological response to alcohol. Many officers are thus ill-equipped to judge women’s intoxication levels.