Roar writer Emma Harrison on the UK’s spiking epidemic and the responsibility and blame it puts on victims.
As a woman myself, I have been taught a number of things from a young age: do not take any shortcuts, even if convenient. Carry keys in between your fingers in case of attack. Do not leave your female friends alone. And, topically, do not accept drinks from strangers unless you have seen them poured at the bar. Although, even this can’t be fully trusted due to how quickly and unnoticeably a pill can be put into a drink.
“Spiking, and the media coverage of it, has risen dramatically over the past month, though this problem has always been a part of many women’s lives.”
Recently, I have seen many posts on social media and heard many stories about women being spiked, or even injected, with unknown drugs and substances. One student, 20, according to Manchester Evening News, had been spiked on a night out. She states that she felt her vision go blurry, her muscles become weak and she began violently vomiting and even jolting, a seizure-like symptom until she eventually collapsed. She was taken to the hospital and felt like she was going into a ‘coma.’
These stories happen at Kings Campuses, with multiple spiking’s happening at our own student union bar, Guys Bar, just last week. This is just one woman’s experience out of thousands, and there’s no doubt how this would have massive negative effects on not only someone’s physical health but also their mental health.
The rise in spiking cases is a very topical subject at the minute but is anything really being done about it?
Of course there has been a number of responses to this epidemic of spiking, but they have been wholly ineffective. There has been a movement that many women have been participating in recently, called “Girls Night In.” It encourages women to boycott clubs and bars, specifically their student nights, as an appeal for change. This response is a step in the right direction as it recognises that change needs to be made but it only makes women pay for the consequences of men’s actions: missing out on fun for men’s misdemeanours.
It makes it seem that the only way that a woman can be safe is through removing themselves from the situation. I see it as: if women aren’t out, there’s no one to spike. As a woman, I did take part in this movement as I really support the cause, but I know many men who didn’t show solidarity with us and continued to go to clubs in fear of missing out on a student night.
This movement is not only flawed due to some men’s lack of solidarity but also due to the clubs and bars main concern evidently being with profit loss. On one of the Girls Night In nights, a nightclub in Oxford, Atik, posted on Instagram stating that they will be shut in support. However, one can only imagine that it wouldn’t be beneficial for them to remain open and pay their employees when they would make little profit. This can’t be completely proven but it can’t be just considered scepticism.
On Instagram, I saw a post about a nightclub in the UK selling drink spiking testing kits at the door for women and being praised for it. These test kits are a good idea and a potential solution to the problem, but I was outraged with the idea of businesses making a profit out of women’s suffering. If the motivation was purely out of concern with the health of women, these test kits would be free (sign this petition in hopes for the government to supply free test kits.)
Although these responses aren’t too effective and their motivations may not be entirely with the cause, at least something is being done. One thing that struck me was that Guys Bar continued to host their student sports night on the Girls Night In evening despite having multiple spikings occur there.
Many of King’s own society presidents have felt the same frustration with King’s lack of action and have signed an open letter to Kings. They have a list of many demands, some of which I believe can make some difference as they focus on preventative measures and consequences for the perpetrators rather than women.
These demands include “indiscriminate and effective bag checking” at all Student Union events and a “review of disciplinary actions and reporting procedures for students” in regards to harassment and sexism by other King’s Students and Staff. They are also appealing for a change of language in the KCLSU guide to “Staying Safe When Out,” to emphasise the fault lies with the perpetrator of assault rather than the victim, whether they took the “precautionary measures” or not.
Admittedly there have been some attempts at keeping women safe but it has been overwhelmingly sexist. It places the responsibility on women to stay in or spend their hard-earned money on test kits to keep themselves safe when the responsibility should lie with men. They should show solidarity with women for their sisters, friends, girlfriends sake and, too, should boycott bars for Girls Night In. They should be educated and they should call out their problematic friends who normalise disrespecting and objectifying women.
Proper action needs to be taken against the spiking epidemic, and the responsibility should not just lie with women.
