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Peterellis.org.nz
Home / Moral Panics / Drug
Rape urban myth Drug-rapes
- Taranaki Hysteria December 2006 |
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Rape stands among the most violent
and abusive offences in our culture. Within that category of
criminality, drug rape is a methodology of particular squalor and infamy.
Little wonder, then, that the accounts emerging from Taranaki of eight women
approaching Rape Crisis after being at pubs with friends between Thursday and
Saturday last week, have sent a shudder down the spine of the nation. In turn, more women have been
coming forward to rape centres in other parts of the country. Police are
urging these women to contact them. Though the onlooking community would hope
that every one of them would, it is no small thing to be asking, given the
vulnerability of women who may be acutely aware of how little they remember.
To invite close scrutiny may seem like heaping distress upon distress, and
for no likely benefit. However, they should be gently
encouraged because the small pieces of information they bring may connect
with other parts of the puzzle to help police fit together a bigger picture. The difficulty authorities face is
to be as encouraging as possible without hectoring. Even some of the advice given by
the Drug Rape Trust, practical though it is, carries its own chilling
component. Don't shower or clean or discard your clothing, if you can stand
it, because important forensic evidence could be there. It is chastening how little
informed the community is, even now, about drug rape. Four years ago,
Environmental Science and Research looked back on 162 samples for analysis
from police investigating sexual assault cases in the two previous years and
found that not one of those had shown any trace of known date-rape drugs such
as GHB or Fantasy, or ketamine. Twelve had shown traces of sedatives but half
the people had admitted taking the drug themselves. Though that data suggested spiking
drinks with drugs may not have been as common as many believed, the scientists
were quick to add that that some drugs could be gone from the bloodstream
within about four hours, and from urine within 12. The gut feeling of ESR
scientists at the time was that if drinks were spiked, they were probably
spiked with more alcohol. That is scant comfort. Booze is a drug too, and
entirely capable of the debilitating effects that the rapist relies upon,
whether it is to render the victim artificially complaint, or just about
entirely comatose. The protections against such vile
practice are becoming increasingly known. Don't leave your drinks unattended.
Buy your own drinks, or accept them only from people you know and trust. It's
also important for friends to keep a watchful eye on one another,
particularly looking out for those who may feel sick, unco-ordinated,
confused or faint. Three years ago the manager of the
former Globe and Thirsty Kiwi in Invercargill, Stephen Grieve, went public
with what he said was four cases of drink spiking that he was aware of,
during the previous three months in the city. The nightclub had stepped up
its security, including surveillance cameras. Last March an Auckland bar
announced it would ask men to show identification if they left the premises
with a "dazed" looking woman, while some bars began tagging
unattended drinks with stickers across the top of the glass, warning it may
have been spiked. A little, sticky, sign of the times. |
