It’s party season and spiking is on the rise in the UK. In our BFI documentary residential film a student shares her alarming party experience where she was spiked herself. Also hear the positive aspects of why teenagers want to party and advice on what you can do to keep yourself safe when you go out.
If you have been affected by this film and need some more help or information please reach out to:
Stamp Out Spiking UK – stampoutspiking.org
Victim Support UK – victimsupport.org.uk
Transcript
Spiked
Narrator: Do you ever feel unsafe when you're out?
Actor 1: Um, yeah I do sometimes feel unsafe when I go out quite a lot. Um, I think the main cause of it would be men, probably, um, just general people that I don't know.
Narrator: Do you know anyone who's been spiked?
Narrator: Yes yes yes yes yes. No.
Narrator: Ah, yes. One of my best friends.
Isis: I was with one of my friends. It was freshers week. Everyone was out and we were just going for a good night. I remember being in the club and I was dancing. And then I remember feeling a tingling sensation going up my legs. And then I remember collapsing on the floor. Once I was outside the club, it started to really hit me. The only thing I remember from the car journey is me. Just keep saying I'm not usually like this. I've been spiked. I need to go to hospital. The driver escorted me back to my house. I just remember passing out in the bathroom while we were waiting for the ambulance. I stopped breathing and my dad had to give me CPR. I woke up the next morning in hospital attached to an IV and wires. The hospital staff suspected I'd been injected with GHB, the date rape drug.
News Reporter: She woke up the next morning unable to remember the night before.
News Reporter 2: A blood test revealed someone had spiked her drink with ketamine.
News Reporter 3: It can come in a drink or through a needle, as a new report on spiking says, too little is known about how widespread it is.
Narrator: Does Stamp Out Spiking get contacted by many spiking victims?
Dawn: We get contacted continually, and this is the reason why I've got so much determination to try to make spiking a separate criminal offence or so the law that needs to be updated is because of all the men and women that have broken down in my arms over the years and said, oh my God, you believe me, everyone else has accused me of having too much to drink.
Isis: One of the nurses at the hospital didn't believe me, and she was questioning me about how much I've drunk and what I've taken. And the bouncers kept insisting that I didn't get spiked, and it was really frustrating and I couldn't get my point across to them.
Dawn: It's like an invisible crime. That's what I call spiking. It leaves the victim with no memory whatsoever. They'll they'll become compliant. They'll leave with the assailant. They won't be able to put up a fight. That's why it's a cowardly crime. You're not even giving someone a chance. You're going in and you're poisoning them. And it's just disgusting.
Isis: The main thing I was thinking about was if I got left alone, or if I didn't get home safe, or if I went to the toilet alone, or went outside, or if I wasn't with any of my friends, what would have happened to me?
Actor 1: What do you think the motivation is behind spiking?
Dawn: There's there's a few different ones. Some people just do it as a prank. Um, we believe some people are doing it for jealousy. There is obviously sexual assault and rape, and we're now getting reports of quite a few male victims for robbery. So there's a multitude of reasons why people do this crime. But ultimately it's got to come down to power and misuse of power.
Isis: It really affected my dad. He didn't sleep for days after that, and he always came to check on me when I was sleeping.
Isis's Dad: We honestly thought that she was going to die there and then on the floor. We were so worried about them to go out again. But the thing is, she hadn't done anything wrong. It obviously happened to multiple people in the club at the time because whilst we were in the hospital, there was also another girl from the same club, from the same college that she had had gone to.
Narrator: 73% of spiking victims are aged 18 to 21. Almost 5000 reports of needle and drink spiking are made to the UK police in a year, but it is estimated that around 97% of spiking incidents go unreported.
Isis: We didn't report to the police because it would have been so hard to even detect who it could have been, because when you're in a club, you're surrounded by so many people, surrounded by so many people, surrounded by so many people.
Dawn: We need people to to step up and to share their experiences so that we can help to eliminate this crime. We need to all work collaboratively to make change.
Isis: My experience hasn't stopped me from going out, and I don't think it should have. Just because there are bad people out there, it doesn't mean I can't have a good time with my friends.
Actor 2: I think it's important to go out with your friends just so that you, you know, have a good time with them. Make memories. And because we couldn't do that for so long. And yeah, I was just making up for it. And I guess.
Kodi: It helps to build your social skills and make you a better person in a sense.
Actor 1: You'll look back at things that you're absolutely mortified by, and you'll be able to laugh about them one day. Remember, like making those memories. And you want to make those memories with your close friends.
Isis: You are only young once. The most important thing when you're going out is just look out for each other.
