Searching the archives of the BBC, Daily Mail or Guardian returns hundreds of results for date rape drugs, such as Rohypnol. Figures from Google Trends show that search volume for 'date rape drugs' or more specific terms like 'Rohypnol' has decreased since 2004, but remains high. Up and down the country, many people are convinced they have been a victim of date rape drugs, their fears fuelled by media scare stories and alarming reports from the usually sensible ACMD.
So it's all the more surprising to hear the Chief Executive of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust - a charity aimed at reducing crime - quoted in a research paper [1] making the following complaint:
"As far as I am aware, there has never been a case of Rohypnol in this country found ever. We ask women when they are out to look after themselves and they say ‘I always put my finger over the bottle so it can’t be spiked’ . I want to tear my hair out because what is in the bottle is what’s lethal!"
To suggest that there have been no cases is perhaps an exaggeration, but the various studies we have on this tell a very different story from that reported in the press until recently.
Michael Scott-Ham of the UK's Forensic Science Service led a study that "analysed samples taken from 1014 victims in the UK soon after the alleged assault between January 2000 and December 2002." They found sedatives in only 2% of samples (the presence of which could of course have several explanations. An Australian study at two hospitals in Perth found that none of the 97 young men and women who claimed to have had their drinks spiked had been drugged.
So if date rate drugs didn't cause these people to lose control of the situation, what was it? The UK Forensic Science Service study provides a big clue. Of the 391 victims who had given samples with 12 hours of the alleged assault, around a third had consumed enough alcohol to result in unconsciousness or memory loss. Similar results have come from Northern Ireland.
To put it another way, scientific studies show that the #1 date rape drug, by far, is alcohol.
A recent study in the British Journal of Criminology - Understanding Heightened Risk Perception of Drink ‘Spiking’ by Adam Burgess, Pamela Donovan and Sarah Moore, takes an interesting look at risk perceptions and psychology surrounding date rape drugs, conducting various surveys of students in Britain and the United States [1].
Their results highlighted the disproportionate level of risk attached to spiking:
"To better establish the strength of concern about DFSA, the UK respondents were asked to rate their sense of risk and sense of worry for the following four crimes: being a victim of drink-driving, being mugged, having a home or room burgled, and being a victim of DFSA (see Table 1 ). UK respondents were more likely to express acute worry about DFSA than any of the other crimes they were asked about."
"Having a drink spiked with drugs was the most commonly cited risk factor for sexual assault, with 150 (75 per cent) of participants identifying this as an important risk factor — a more signi? cant risk factor than drinking alcohol or taking drugs (see Table 2 ). Furthermore, it is noteworthy that [spiking] elicited a more acute sense of worry amongst female students than mugging."
So in spite of the vanishingly small probability of drink spiking ever happening, students were more concerned about it than mugging, or drink driving. What is the explanation for this skewed perception of risk?
The elephant in the bedsit here is alcohol, a drug which culturally we seem to be in a state of denial over. Part of the explanation may be that the myth of drink-spiking provides a useful narrative through which we can rationalize away our own guilt at drinking too much: "I was in control of my drinking, but then somebody spiked my drink."
Is that true, or is it all a bit more complicated than that? We'll take a look in Part II of this post, which I'll be putting up this this evening tomorrow Friday (sorry, life and all that).
[1] Burgess, A., Donovan, P., & Moore, S. (2009). Embodying Uncertainty?: Understanding Heightened Risk Perception of Drink 'Spiking' British Journal of Criminology, 49 (6), 848-862 DOI: 10.1093/bjc/azp049
http://layscience.net/trackback/787
"I want to tear my hair out because what is in the bottle is what’s lethal!"
Well, except that quite a few rapists will add strong alcohol to weak alcohol to incapacitate their victims.
"Part of the explanation may be that the myth of drink-spiking provides a useful narrative through which we can rationalize away our own guilt"
Guilt which in the context of this is actively encouraged by the frighteningly large part of the population who believe that a woman who has been drinking is partially responsible if she is raped. (As that Chief Exec of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust does in the above quote, even: the 'lethal' problem is the rapist, not the alcohol). I wish it was surprising to find prominent people engaging in victim-blaming, but it's not.
You can't just not mention that bit, since societies attitudes to rape that allow so many serial rapists to exist are an even bigger elephant than one of the methods they use is.
Read something like the papers mentioned at http://yesmeansyesblog.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/meet-the-predators/ for research on the scale of the problem and the methods used by rapists.
Think this is ok as far as it goes, in that I have no difficulty believing that drink spiking is over-reported and people can't control their drinking.
But I have the same concerns as Cim above. You're saying both "drink spiking" and "date rape". If drink spiking isn't actually occuring, the supposed results are to be blamed on the drinker. The overall effect really sounds like placing blame on rape victims (which I'm sure wasn't your intention, but still).
I'm sorry, I'm lost as to where in the blog post I've said anything about placing blame on rape victims? In fact I hugely resent the suggestion that I have.
"Part of the explanation may be that the myth of drink-spiking provides a useful narrative through which we can rationalize away our own guilt..."
...is a perfectly valid point to make, and supported by research referenced as I'll be discussing in the next part of this post. We've all experienced a feeling of "we shouldn't have done that" after a heavy night out," which is what I was referring to (the studies immediately preceding this point were looking at people of both genders who thought they'd had their drinks spiked, not people reporting rape or sexual assault).
My broad point is that we are in deep denial about the effects of alcohol.
"You're saying both "drink spiking" and "date rape". If drink spiking isn't actually occuring, the supposed results are to be blamed on the drinker."
Why this obsession with blame? If drink spiking isn't actually occurring, then young people in general need to question or take responsibility for the amount that they drink; however to suggest that saying this then implies that they are then responsible for getting raped/mugged/assaulted/hospitalized or whatever else happens is absurd.
This is 2009, on a science blog with one of the biggest contingents of feminist writers in the science blogosphere. We shouldn't even need to be having this discussion - it should be taken as read.
Martin is the editor of layscience.net.
Follow Me!
RSS | Twitter
"Guilt which in the context of this is actively encouraged by the frighteningly large part of the population who believe that a woman who has been drinking is partially responsible if she is raped. (As that Chief Exec of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust does in the above quote, even: the 'lethal' problem is the rapist, not the alcohol). I wish it was surprising to find prominent people engaging in victim-blaming, but it's not. You can't just not mention that bit, since societies attitudes to rape that allow so many serial rapists to exist are an even bigger elephant than one of the methods they use is."
I've already said I'll be discussing this in part 2 of the post, and I think it's pretty harsh to one-star me just because I haven't gotten to that point yet. Alcohol consumption is a massive problem for young men and women - pointing this out in no way absolves the rapist of blame, or places responsibility for rape onto women. As I said above, I think it's daft that we even need to have that sort of conversation here today.
The link you posted was v. informative by the way, many thanks.
Martin is the editor of layscience.net.
Follow Me!
RSS | Twitter
"We shouldn't even need to be having this discussion - it should be taken as read."
I would love to live in a world where that's the case, but when approximately 1/3 of the UK population does consistently think the opposite, that's not something that can be relied on. This proportion has been consistent in surveys done for the last several years, on various groups, so it being 2009 helps rather less than I'd like.
I did consider what you'd said you'd cover in part 2 before writing that comment, but I didn't see that either "drug policy" or "alternative medicine" were likely places to cover this. Apologies for misinterpreting you.
This is really quite bizarre. I am not usually one for believing everything the press say, but in this case (if your article is correct) find it totally unjustified that the press ever created these stories.
Where do the stories come from of people being date-raped with Rohypnol in the UK? To my recollection there must have been quite a few...
I'll be attempting to answer that question in the next post, so stay tuned :)
Martin is the editor of layscience.net.
Follow Me!
RSS | Twitter
In our uni fresher's packs there were reusable 'bottle covers' as 'anti-spiking' devices.
All were agreed: weird idea!
To which I hasten to add,
weird because general awareness of your surroundings and drinking sensibly is a far more effective way of making sure you stay in control than putting a flimsy plastic cap on your drink.
Part of the problem with drinking is that there is a bravura element to it - I was so drunk I woke up in a hedge with my pants on my head. If you've never been drunk, there is something wrong with you. Going home sober is the sign of a bad night out.
Part of the problem with being drunk is that you think you're not or that you're still in control - which is why there are so many drink-driving accidents.
I used to have a flatmate who drank to the point of collapse and remembered nothing the next day. Including once bringing someone back who was clearly intent on sleeping with her in her barely conscious state if I hadn't thrown him out (which was not at all fun).
It's much easier to talk about the evils of MDMA or weed than to face the real dangers of a legal drug that large numbers of the population reguarly overdose on.