Q I was raped recently by someone I have known for years. I believe he slipped something in my drink at his flat after a dinner. Should I go to the police?
DR THOMAS STUTTAFORD
A Yes: if, when this happened, you thought you had been raped, you should have gone to the police immediately.
The two date-rape drugs that have received most publicity are Rohypnol (flunitrazepam) and GHB (gamma hydroxy butyrate), but there are others. In any event, the law doesn’t distinguish between the drugs known as date-rape drugs, but which have other medicinal functions as sleeping pills, and recreational drugs such as marijuana or Ecstasy. Any drug that so reduces someone’s understanding of what they are doing and, therefore, makes them acquiesce to sex is covered by the latest legislation. What has to be established is whether consent was given for sexual intercourse when the person understood the significance of what they were consenting to. Under the law, a person must agree by choice, and have the capacity to make that choice, before they have sex.
The time to have gone to the police would have been immediately after the incident, if you had been fit to do so or, failing that, when you woke next morning. Residue from a date-rape drug such as Rohypnol might then have been traceable in your blood. Both date-rape drugs are reasonably rapidly eliminated from the body: any evidence of GHB is gone within 12 hours; Rohypnol can’t be traced after 72 hours.
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There is also a need for urgency in seeking police because any other evidence of sexual intercourse, such as bruising or lacerations, should be recorded before they fade. If a woman has resisted, there is also usually evidence of injury to the male genitalia. Examination by the police of clothing, bedlinen and pubic hair will also often reveal seminal stains.
Early reporting to the police also enables them to interview other people who were present during the evening, before the incident. They can be asked to comment on your condition at that time and whether you were then apparently capable of understanding any sexual intentions of your former friend.
However, there are disadvantages to reporting a case to the police, especially after a lapse of time, when there is no evidence. When you report this incident to the police, as I hope you do, you will be greeted with nothing but politeness and compassion. Even if there isn’t a rape centre in your area, you will find that the police women, doctors and nurses are nonjudgmental and understanding. Even so, there are questions that have to be asked because they may be relevant to any court hearing.
If there is a suggestion of date rape they will inevitably ask about the amount you had to drink at your friend’s dinner party and how this compared with your usual consumption. They will also ask if you had any other drugs but this is not an accusation and wouldn’t excuse rape. The rape centres are skilled at providing support and you may find it helpful to talk. Don’t reject the opportunity.
Although you know the truth, some mutual friends, human nature being what it is, may however unjustifiably suggest that you have let your old friend down by accusing him of rape. They may even imply that you may have fabricated the whole incident, or later regretted what had happened and now deny it. Ignore their innuendos and do what you think is right.
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Dr Thomas Stuttaford, the Times doctor, spent many years working in a genitourinary clinic
SUZI GODSON
A Start by going to a Havens centre (text “havens” to 64118 to find your nearest one) where a doctor and a crisis unit will gather forensic science evidence before it is lost, provide emotional support, guidance on testing for STIs and HIV and give advice on what to do next. If you go to the police, contact the Sapphire unit at your local station. Sapphire units are trained to deal sensitively with sexual violence and the team will help you with your legal case. For counselling, contact your nearest Rape Crisis centre (www.rapecrisis.org.uk), though there may be a waiting list.
Rape Crisis sees nine times more rape victims than the police because 80 per cent of victims never bother reporting the fact that they have been raped. Why? In 1977 the conviction rate for rape in the UK was 33.3 per cent. Today that figure is down to a paltry 5.3 per cent and about half of those convictions are achieved because the rapist admits guilt. Of the few cases that do get reported, at least 80 per cent do not get beyond the investigation stage and often the case is thrown out by the Crown Prosecution Service before it gets to trial.
In the courtroom, stranger attacks are more likely to be taken seriously but the situation you describe is much more common. In 90 per cent of cases of rape, women know their attacker. This makes rape confusing for the law and doubly so for the victim. Being betrayed and violated by someone who is known and trusted is devastating. So is the prospect of having to publicly label as a rapist someone you once trusted. Press coverage about false rape claims has created the illusion that it’s a common practice. In fact, most of these cases are weeded out by the police before they get near a judge and, in 86.7 per cent of charged cases of rape, there is supporting evidence. It is not simply a matter of the victim’s word against the defendant.
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The stigma of rape means that 40 per cent of victims don’t tell anyone at all. Many women blame themselves and, if they have drunk alcohol, they presume that no one will believe that they did not consent to sex. They are right. Cases of rape are extremely difficult to prosecute successfully if the victim was intoxicated at the time of the attack. The law now considers a woman who is drunk to be incapable of consenting to sex, but what constitutes drunk?
The police are fully aware that the conviction rate is an embarrassment, but rape is a complex charge and many judges are simply not equipped to look beyond their own preconceptions. Nor are jurors. For example, even in situations in which alcohol consumption was involuntary, jurors take the view that it is “reasonable” for a man to assume that silence represents sexual consent, even if the silence was because the woman was totally intoxicated.
Still, despite the appalling conviction rate, despite the fact that four out of five rape victims believe the system will fail them, despite biased juries who believe that women “ask for it” if they wear lipstick, despite how bad you feel right now, it is very, very important that you report this incident to the police. One woman in four is subjected to rape or attempted rape in her lifetime and it is high time it stopped being a crime without consequence.
Suzi Godson is the author of The Sex Book (Cassell, £16.99) and The Body Bible (Penguin, £16.99)