Cardiff University’s Security, Crime and Intelligence Innovation Institute and Dawn Dines’ charity Stamp Out Spiking have reported on the experience of victims of spiking in the UK. Their report was launched at a briefing at the Houses of Parliament.
Prof Simon Moore, Director of the Violence Research Group at Cardiff University, said: “Spiking is a crime that predominantly targets young people, anyone could become a victim of – it can be carried out by people you know and strangers. With the various forms of spiking and the motivations behind spiking, we must get an in-depth understanding of who is being impacted by spiking and how people are being spiked. This will allow us to work with law enforcement, government, policy-makers and business-owners to prevent it from happening.”
Dawn Dines, Founder and CEO of Stamp Out Spiking, said: “We are delighted to partner with Cardiff University to understand the complexity of these invisible crimes. Our research finds that 91 per cent of UK spiking victims are female. Whilst this is a crime that predominantly impacts women, we also need to ensure that male victims don’t go under the radar. Working together will ensure we give an equal platform to everyone who has been affected by these issues.”
Stamp Out Spiking surveyed over 1,534 people between March 2023 and June 2024, including 619 survivors and 138 witnesses. The charity investigated how victims were spiked (drink, vape, or other), the percentage that suffered no other crime, how many victims reported it to the police, and how many of those cases made it to court. The survey found that most, 91pc of survivors were female while 55pc of survivors were between 18 and 25 years old, and 84pc were drink spiked.
Most, 90pc of spiking incidents occurred in licensed premises – with 38pc of incidents of spiking happening in nightclubs, 27pc in pubs, 17pc in restaurants and 2%pc at festivals. The report also found that 34 incidents occurred at the home of a friend or relative. At the time of spiking, 94pc of survivors were drinking alcohol.
As for what happened to those with drinks spiked, most, 60pc experienced a loss of consciousness and 17pc were sexually assaulted. Only about a quarter, 24pc noticed any signs that their drink had been spiked, such as an unusual taste, excessive bubbles or a foggy appearance. Some, 46pc, were unsure why they had been spiked, while 39pc believed it was for sexual assault, 7pc for a prank and 4pc for robbery. When spiked, about one in eight, 13pc of survivors were taken somewhere against their will.
As for involving the authorities, most, 74pc of victims didn’t report the incident to police. Most, 60pc of survivors have experienced disbelief or ‘victim blaming’, including 24pc experiencing that from the police or other emergency services. Of those who reported the incident to the police, about one in four, 28pc reported having no follow up from the police.
Dawn Dines added: “This will give us a true measure of the extent of these crimes and if for any reason victims do not want to report these crimes to the police, they can anonymously report to Stamp Out Spiking or Victim Support. We understand that over 90pc of incidents reported happened in licenced premises and we are keen to share that training is taking place for the hospitality and security industry, so whilst the stats are high, this is still the safest place for people to go out and enjoy themselves with CCTV and training to safeguard you against these crimes.”
Background
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at a summit at 10 Downing Street in November 2024, and Labour in its 2024 election manifesto, stated that Labour would make drink spiking a criminal offence.
