There are growing fears of “needle spiking” across Britain and Europe amid reports of the crime growing. Needle spiking is when an injection is administered without knowledge or consent. It is a similar attack to drink spiking.
Authorities are grappling with how to prove needle spiking, and how to combat the attacks. Last year, reports began to surface in the United Kingdom that a number of people at nightclubs, mostly young women, had been unknowingly injected with needles.
Now there are fears that needle spiking is spreading across Europe.
Authorities are seeking to raise awareness about what is considered to be currently a small, but growing, number of reported cases.
It remains unclear if drugs are being administered in the attacks. Doctors said that extremely thin needles, as “fine as hairs,” are easily purchased online, as are prescription drugs, including opium-based drugs and painkillers.
Police in France has received more than 300 complaints of injections in various regions since the end of March. No arrests have yet been made. Victims have mainly been women, and often reported suffering memory loss, or noticing they had injuries later.
The wave of reports around France has puzzled authorities. They have yet to determine a motive for the attacks, or whether the injections had drugs in them.
Experts in women’s rights and in rape culture say that these types of attacks have the same motive as drink spiking. Both types of spiking are used in efforts to assert dominance and control over women and their bodies and to instill fear in women.
The effects of either type of spiking are also similar. Victims often feel embarrassed or ashamed, or guilty, and therefore they do not report the attack, even though in reality they are not at fault. This is common in rape cases and sexual assault cases as well, where victims are blamed for violence committed against them.
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