Liberty focus

Deadly Dates

It’s not unusual to wake up after a night’s drinking without any recollection of what we’ve done the night before, but few of us know the horror of waking up not knowing what’s been done to us.

Unfortunately this experience is not uncommon in the city. Drug rape, as it has become known, is on the increase. Last year, drugs were detected in 27 samples belonging to women who had reported sexual assaults, including rape. This may seem like a relatively small number of attacks. After all Dublin is a big place. However, if you take into account the number of people who never reported suspected attacks, the figures could be more damning.

Whilst we may speculate on the number of people who have never reported sexual assaults to the authorities, guessing the amount of unreported drug rapes is a totally different ball-game.

Many people still refuse to believe that it is going on in this country, despite the extensive media attention it has attracted. The real problem lies in the fact that, as yet, there have been no convictions for drug rape here.

They say there is no such thing as the perfect crime, but the use of sedatives in sexual attacks is pretty much foolproof. For a start the rapist is anonymous. In most reported cases of drug rape the victim has little, if any memory, of the attack. People see this memory loss as proof that these attacks are not happening. It’s much easier to put it down to drink and an over active imagination on the behalf of the victim.

It is this kind of attitude that prevents many people from coming forward and reporting suspected attacks. Take Denise for example. She was raped one year ago after her drink was spiked with Rohypnol in an inner-city pub, a sedative ten times more potent than Valium. Denise never reported the attack, in fact it took her a long time to even admit it to herself.

"All you feel is shame and disgust. I couldn’t talk about it to anyone because I was trying to pretend it never happened. I knew though. I knew what had been done to me and the thought of it made me sick.

I remember being in the pub with a friend after work. We met a group of lads that I knew from the area and they joined us. I only had two pints and then my friend left. I was going to go with her but one of the guys bought me another drink so I decided to stay. That was the worst decision of my life."

It was around 10.30pm when Denise started to drink her third pint, the next thing she remembers is being woken by her flat-mate at 5.30am. " My friend says that she was shaking me for ages and that she thought I was unconscious. I was lying outside my flat, that’s how I knew who drugged me because there was only one fella there who knew where I lived. There was no way in the world I made it home myself. I couldn’t even walk."

"I felt so confused. I remember my friend asking me where I’d been and I couldn’t answer her because I had no idea. That’s when I looked down and saw that all the buttons on my shirt were done up wrong."

The memory of when she first realised she had been assaulted is too much. She fights back the tears that are already spilling down her face and tries to continue. "I had no underwear on, my belt was unbuckled and I felt sore from having sex. You don’t need a test to tell you if you’ve had sex. You just know. I couldn’t tell anybody about it. I kept trying to put it out of my head but the worst thing was the not knowing. All of them could have raped me, I just don’t know. Seven hours is a long time and I don’t know what went on."

Shortly after the attack, Denise fled Dublin in an attempt to shake off the pain that was consuming her. There was no solace to be found and it was only when she began to receive counselling that she could finally begin to talk about her experience. "For three months after that I thought I was pregnant. My periods had stopped completely but I didn’t do a test because I was so determined to pretend it hadn’t happened. I was so relieved when I found out I wasn’t and at that stage I knew that I couldn’t go on.

I came back to Dublin and started counselling. I still have problems with relationships but hopefully that will change. At least I can talk about it now. I used to think that it was my fault. Now I know that there was nothing I could have done to stop it from happening. There’s no point in saying ‘if only’ all the time, that doesn’t help."

Denise’s story is not unique and just how widespread this disturbing practice is, is anybody’s guess. Rohypnol, the drug most frequently linked with this kind of rape, is widely used in this country. It is classified as a hypnotic and generally prescribed to heroin addicts who are trying to kick the habit.

The manufacturers of the sedative, Roche Pharmaceuticals, are adamant that it is not being used in sexual assaults. Managing Director of the company, Mark Rogers, believes that these alleged rapes are not as common as we have been led to believe. "Rohypnol has everything you could possibly want in a racy story. There’s drugs, sex and conspiracy theories. It’s a journalist’s dream."

Despite this conviction the company has gone to great expense to ensure that the drug cannot be used as an aid for rapists. This new improved Rohypnol does not dissolve easily and contains a blue dye, which is released if the tablet is tampered with.

There is no doubt in Denise’s mind that the drug she was given was Rohypnol. "I know that I was spiked with a robie. I found out after it happened that the group I was drinking with supply the junkies with it.

They need it to sleep when they haven’t got any gear. It’s so strong that it knocks you out and you can’t feel the sickness."

The tragedy of this situation is that even if Denise had reported the attack immediately, it is unlikely that the perpetrator would have been caught. Rape cases are notoriously difficult to prove but with drug rape, the terrain is doubly treacherous. Denise knows this and has come to terms with the fact that the man who drugged her, raped her and discarded her on her doorstep, will never be punished for his crime. "It’s not easy to deal with but I’m glad that I didn’t have to see him in court and have people making out that I’m a liar. I couldn’t have dealt with that. I hope someday he’ll understand what he put me through. I doubt it, though."

All names mentioned in this article are fictional.