YOUNG women today learn how to be experts in safety prevention in ways which were never heard of, or never needed, 10 years ago. 

It appears the further rights and ground in equality we gain, the further kickbacks and punishment we face.

The word “spiking” is a misnomer, reducing the reality to a perky, snazzy-sounding name with little consequence or thought for the victim. 

This is another way violence against women gets downplayed or made invisible. I prefer the word “drugged,” because drugged is the reality of what happens to the women involved. 

The Westminster government, as well as the devolved governments of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, all state that violence against women and girls is a priority. 

For all their talk, numbers continue to increase and convictions of some crimes are almost non-existent. 

According to a freedom of information request there has been a 108 per cent increase in the number of reports to police since 2015. 

According to the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC), almost 200 drink-spiking incidents were reported to police forces across the UK over a two-month period. 

The figure is based on data received from 40 out of 45 police forces. Deputy Chief Constable Jason Harwin, the lead for drugs, said the reports were “very concerning.” 

In response, Home Secretary Priti Patel requested an update from police on their investigations into spiking. 

There has been a huge surge in media reports of women saying they have been spiked, many of them by injection. 

What the police are saying, and what women are saying is once again at odds. This same scenario has been played out on many fronts over the years in the fight for women’s liberation. Women talk about their material reality long before government and police take note. 

This is the way it has always been for women. We talk among ourselves, mobilise and follow through with action. 

Government and police action follows much later. In the meantime, many more women are harmed. It is unacceptable that governments pat themselves on the back for giving VAW the high priority it deserves, while on the ground women are being let down in unprecedented numbers.

In universities across Britain women have been taking control of a situation that has become endemic on their nights out. 

Women fed up with their nights out being tainted by fear and apprehension took matters into their own hands. 

Girls Night In has become a social media hit, starting in October 2021, with an Instagram post with the simple aim to encourage students to boycott Edinburgh nightclubs as they were “enabling spiking.”  

Within the first five days the account gained over 6,000 followers. Since then, the campaign has taken hold in universities across Britain. 

The campaign proposes a boycott of clubbing and nights out. Women can instead spend their “night in” with friends enjoying themselves and not worrying about the risk of being spiked. Going out has become akin to planning a military operation.

Girls Night In and many others are calling on clubs and licensed premises to do more to discourage spiking. These steps include:

• Working with organisations to provide training to staff
• Having CCTV cameras that cover all areas of the premises
• Providing clear cups and lids 
• Undertaking background checks on all staff
• Providing safety zones on the premises devoted to first aid and support
• Taking away unattended drinks
• Identifying women who have been spiked
• Having thorough safety checks at the door
• Displaying warning posters around the venue 

What is important about this campaign is that it publicly states that it frames spiking squarely at those responsible and shies away from the victim-blaming and sexist tropes so prevalent in cases. 

It is not the job of women to prevent themselves from being spiked. 

These steps include basic measures that would no doubt make an impact on improving the safety for women on a night out. 

However, we are missing a key tenet of any preventative work on violence against women and girls. We will get nowhere when we don’t tell men outright that they should not drug women, and if they do the consequences will be severe. 

There should be posters around the venue saying this. To tackle this problem, we must focus on male violence. 

Approaches and interventions should be focused on delivering attitudinal change, challenging persistent victim-blaming myths and more importantly, holding men accountable. Why are we so afraid to do this?

As a specialist violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence consultant and so-called expert in the field, I am not immune from the consequences of male violence. 

Spiking became an issue for me last month when my granddaughter was drugged on a night out. After she ended up spending time in hospital on a drip and losing days off work, you would think it was an open-and-shut case with CCTV and medical evidence available.

But here we are, a few weeks later, with an official complaint into the police handling of the case. How did it all go so wrong? 

Without jeopardising the complaint, it is clear that there are two basic areas of failure. First is the lack of co-ordination and partnership working between hospital and police which meant my granddaughter had to request drug testing from the police on discharge. 

Luckily in her case she still tested positive. Second is the staggering victim-blaming embedded within the police inquiry, strengthened by sexist tropes and bullying. 

Not only was the case closed, but my granddaughter was told she had most probably taken something herself willingly. 

What victim-blaming does is not only close the case but say it never happened in the first place (no data — no incidents of spiking). 

It stops women from ever contacting the police again. Trust in the police is at an all-time low, especially with media interest around institutional sexism in the Met. 

Despite all the reassurances from the government and the police, this doesn’t seem to have filtered down to the officers on the ground. 

My granddaughter is one of the lucky ones. She has the support of her family and community. Other women are not so lucky. We eagerly await the response of our complaint.