During our in class activity where we all had to think of examples of a time where our right’s were taken away, I mentioned that my right to security had been taken away after my drink was spiked with the date rape drug Rohypnol last year.
I became interested in researching other women’s’ stories who have been victims of date rape drugs such as Rohypnol. Through my research, I stumbled upon this blog titled, “Rohypnol, the new mystery non-existent date rape drug....” The author claims that Rohypnol is non-existent and just used as an excuse by women who binge drink for being victims of sexual assault.
An example of some of the claims in this blog post include:
Dr. Peter Saul, a GP in Wrexham, said: "There had always been a suspicion that people would say that their drinks had been spiked when perhaps they had misjudged how much alcohol they were taking.
"If you go home and your parents are there, and you are vomiting on the path, and you come in in a terrible state, you get sympathy if you say, 'My drink was spiked'. You don't get sympathy if you say, 'We spent too long in the bar'."
Although I realize the author of this blog is not a credible source for information, I thought it was important to point out the way many people view the date rape drug phenomenon. This blog post was really hurtful and also degrading towards women. Regardless of the situation there is never an excuse to take advantage of women. It’s posts like this that make women think that rape and sexual assault are shameful and therefore just contribute to the number of women who don’t speak out against their rights being violated.
It is extremely troubling that there are people out there that would dismiss such a serious and destructive thing. There are obviously people out there who fall victim to this form of abuse and violence every day. To state that those people either falsely reported that they had been slipped something or to state that people chose to use being slipped something as an excuse for their behavior is ignorant.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that there are people out there who do use getting slipped something as en excuse for their behavior but to generalize, stereotype and dismiss an entire phenomena because of a few examples is a shame.
It is up to people who feel strongly about this issue or who have been personally affected by it to advocate for possible solutions and awareness so that in the future, less people will be victims to this treatment.
I have had some intense debates with some of my (older) family members about some of these same kinds of things. For instance, there is the claim that women who wear "revealing" clothes are just "asking" to get raped... or women who are overly flirtatious and leading to men are also "asking" to get raped. I can't tell you how infuriating it is to hear these statements that ultimately put the blame on a woman. Sure, it is alluring to men when a woman looks "sexy," but that does not somehow put moral blinders on him to make him think he is "allowed" to have sex with her. Men who choose to rape do exactly that... THEY CHOOSE to do it. Something in their mind, in their background, in the entire history of their thoughts has informed them that it is okay to get what they want from a woman no matter what. THAT is the problem, THAT is the issue....this belief that "a man can do whatever he wants." THAT is the example of a corrupt paradigm in which (certain) men feel privileged over women. Therefore, it is absolutely disgusting that that blogger would contend (as I'm sure some others do) that date rape drugs are 'non-existent.' Like DN said, I'm sure there are SOME women who have used that excuse... HOWEVER, regardless of the amount of alcohol a woman has consumed, a man has the CHOICE to take advantage of that woman or not. Something in his frame of reference has told him it is okay to "get what he wants," even if that means drugging someone. That to me is an act of being truly pathetic. However, THIS is an example of why change isn't just about these surface level things such as getting women to cover themselves in public or whatever... it is about this underlying narrative that has granted men a misconstrued form of "permission" to have what they want in whatever way they can get it. If we can start to unravel this messed up way of thinking that has been embedded in society, perhaps this sort of occurrence can finally go away.
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