We’d like to thank Meredith Duffy, Journalism student at City University of London, for writing an article on Stamp Out Spiking as a part of her course.
You can read Meredith’s article below:
Spiking is an ongoing danger across UK venues, and it remains an under-reported crime.
Whether it be a lack of confidence in the police, a lack of education surrounding spiking, or even just embarrassment, all these factors contribute towards people failing to take further action against those committing this crime.
The word ‘crime’ is used loosely in this context. Under some criminal offences like the Sexual Offences Act, spiking can be recorded through its association with another crime. For example, this might be poisoning or a crime under the Offences Against the Person Act. However, no separate offence code exists for spiking currently.
This is exactly what individuals such as Dawn Dines, the founder and CEO of Stamp Out Spiking, are fighting for: a change in legislation.
The House of Commons Committee report regarding spiking references a survey conducted by Stamp Out Spiking, which states that 98% of 369 respondents did not report their drink being spiked to the police. In response to this, Dines said that she found people were asked about “how much they had to drink” rather than actual action being taken.
By calling for a change in the law, there is the hope that not only will this act as a disincentive for perpetrators, but will also encourage victims to actually report their experiences. That could potentially create more public trust in the police.
This non-profit organisation is one of many striving to raise public understanding of spiking. Through education and spreading awareness, they wish to fight for this legislative change and ultimately shed light on a subject that not enough people are talking about.
For example, they are among the very few to be talking about all forms of spiking: alcohol, drugs, injection spiking and even vape spiking. While the latter actually made headlines across multiple media outlets in August last year, Dawn believes much more needs to be done to spread awareness of it.
“This is why we need charitable organisations spreading the word”, she said.
The Committee report also suggests that the process for reporting spiking is unclear, based on a survey of spiking victims and witnesses. 823 individuals stated they did not know who to report to or where to report it, and 728 thought it was ‘too late to report’. This suggests that there is a clear correlation between low levels of reporting and a lack of education surrounding spiking in general and, more specifically, the steps in which to take after the incident occurs.
Dawn mentioned a public awareness video, that she believes should be shared universally across the UK, from universities to TV broadcasts. It talks about the symptoms, how to ‘act with speed’, and how to ‘safeguard yourself ’.
She said that “education is what is needed” from “key emergency services” and “nighttime economy workers”, in exactly what spiking looks like. They need to know about the symptoms and “policing and risk assessments” for these venues to follow, in order for victims to be “taken seriously”.
Stamp Out Spiking offers the “first accredited spiking course in the UK” which Dawn believes is a training course that “must be mandatory”. She also said that any new licensees should be “spike aware” to operate.
Although this is a topic many are somewhat aware of, more efforts need to be made to amplify their confidence in reporting spiking, as well as increasing people’s ability to recognise the details of spiking and everything it involves.
Organisations like Stamp Out Spiking, and campaigners like Dawn Dines, will persevere in the push to change the law, while keeping the issues of spiking high on the agenda of the UK public.
Thank you so much Meredith for shining a light on this an important issue in your course