‘To have control over my own body and my memory taken away from me,” says Sharon Gaffka, a Love Island star turned campaigner against drink-spiking: “that is the hardest thing to deal with.”
In the Magazine we lay bare the scale of spiking — the insertion of drugs or extra alcohol into someone’s drink or bloodstream without their consent. In a survey by YouGov, 11 per cent of women and 6 per cent of men said they had been spiked. Most victims — almost three quarters — are women, and the average age is 26. A freedom of information request sent by Channel 4 to UK police forces found that 0.25 per cent of incidents reported to the police resulted in a charge.
Behind the statistics are the human stories: the sexual assaults; the disturbing experiences seen as common by many young women; the precautionary thumb held over an open bottle. Gaffka recalls only blacking out in a restaurant lavatory cubicle and being found by her friends 15 minutes later, half naked, unconscious and covered in vomit, having wet herself and banged her head on the toilet bowl.
In December last year the government said it would not create a new law to deal with spiking but would modernise the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. Depending on the scenario, offenders can also be charged under the Sexual Offences Act. The problems are an absence of testing facilities in bars, nightclubs and hospitals, and a cultural dynamic that puts the onus on potential victims to protect themselves. Inverting this approach to put the onus on potential spikers, Australia launched an advertising campaign declaring: “Only losers spike drinks”. Spreading that message is something we can all do.
Scottie in the doghouse
Legend has it that the 1st Earl of Dumbarton so rated his Scottish terriers’ resilience that he called his pack “the Diehards” — and then bestowed the name on his regiment, the Royal Scots.
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The Scottie has long been a favourite in America too. Its starring role on the Monopoly board is attributed to the national profile of President Roosevelt’s pet Fala. So it is with a long face that we report today on a marked decline in Scottish terrier registrations. Perhaps these associations are seen as old-fashioned. As the club’s spokesman, Bill Lambert, points out, the fickle hand of celebrity and social media plays a big part in deciding whether French bulldogs or Bernese mountain dogs are the chien du jour.
There is one other explanation for the shortage of Scottish terriers. When man finally reaches Mars, it is possible we will find a canine colony there, established by that space captain who was often heard demanding: “Beam me up a Scottie.”
