Drug assisted sexual violence, sometimes referred to as drug facilitated sexual violence, occurs when alcohol or drugs are used to compromise an individual's ability to consent to sexual activity. Drugs and alcohol can lower inhibitions, reduce a person’s ability to resist an assault, and can prevent them from remembering details of the assault.
Drink spiking involves adding alcohol or drugs to someone's drink without their knowledge or permission. Additionally, reports of needle spiking are currently being investigated by Police Scotland; these reports detail instances of people being spiked by drugs by injection, without their knowledge or permission.
It is important to note that whether someone is assaulted following a case of spiking, or assaulted following the voluntary consumption of drugs and/or alcohol, the person who is assaulted is never to blame. The responsibility always lies with the abuser.
Rape Crisis Scotland have a useful handout on drug assisted sexual violence that can be found here.
If you or someone you know has experienced spiking or drug assisted sexual violence and you would like support from the University to explore your options and/or manage the impact of this, please don't hesitate to contact the Equally Safe Team through this Report & Support platform, or directly at equallysafeteam@ed.ac.uk. A member of the team will aim to respond to you within two working days.
If you found the above resource from Rape Crisis helpful and would like to view more of their resources or contact them directly to arrange support, you can do so here.
If you believe you may have experienced drug assisted sexual violence in the past 7 days, you can contact SARCS on 0800 148 88 88 to arrange forensic examination if you wish, and link into further supports.
If you are currently unsafe or believe you are at risk of immediate danger, please contact Police Scotland on 999.
If you require emergency medical treatment, you can contact the ambulance service on 999 or attend Accident and Emergency at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.
Drink spiking involves adding alcohol or drugs to someone's drink without their knowledge or permission. Additionally, reports of needle spiking are currently being investigated by Police Scotland; these reports detail instances of people being spiked by drugs by injection, without their knowledge or permission.
It is important to note that whether someone is assaulted following a case of spiking, or assaulted following the voluntary consumption of drugs and/or alcohol, the person who is assaulted is never to blame. The responsibility always lies with the abuser.
Rape Crisis Scotland have a useful handout on drug assisted sexual violence that can be found here.
If you or someone you know has experienced spiking or drug assisted sexual violence and you would like support from the University to explore your options and/or manage the impact of this, please don't hesitate to contact the Equally Safe Team through this Report & Support platform, or directly at equallysafeteam@ed.ac.uk. A member of the team will aim to respond to you within two working days.
If you found the above resource from Rape Crisis helpful and would like to view more of their resources or contact them directly to arrange support, you can do so here.
If you believe you may have experienced drug assisted sexual violence in the past 7 days, you can contact SARCS on 0800 148 88 88 to arrange forensic examination if you wish, and link into further supports.
If you are currently unsafe or believe you are at risk of immediate danger, please contact Police Scotland on 999.
If you require emergency medical treatment, you can contact the ambulance service on 999 or attend Accident and Emergency at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.