Over the past 10 years, the numbers of cases of what is commonly termed ‘date rape’ by the mass media and ‘drug-facilitated sexual assault’ (DFSA) in the scientific literature has increased. According to population surveys from six European countries, up to 20% of women in Europe have experienced some form of sexual assault during adulthood, but a lack of appropriate monitoring systems means that the full scale of DFSA remains unknown. As a result of the publicity the topic has received, women are increasingly aware of the risk of drugs being added covertly to their drinks for the purpose of sexual assault.
However, issues about how to define and measure DFSA are inextricably linked with wider issues relating to sexual assault in general. For example issues about an individual’s capacity to consent are implicated in definitions of sexual assault and public or police attitudes about the extent to which blame can be attributed to victims who are incapacitated as a result of their voluntary use of alcohol or drugs inevitably affect reporting rates. This paper explores new developments in the conceptualization of DFSA and highlights key responses and recommendations to address the phenomenon.
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