INTRODUCTION

The link between drugs, alcohol and sexual assault and incest is firmly established. But there are some differences and unique problems that come with using any type of drug that negatively affects or erases the memory. Reporting of this crime is one problem area. In general, reporting of all sexual assault crimes is low, some estimates being that only 16% of all sexual assaults are reported to the police. (National Victim Center & Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, 1992). There are many reasons why most victims of sexual assault don’t report. Factors such as shame, cultural or religious beliefs, fear of stigmatization, lack of faith in the criminal justice system, fear of retribution, fear that their name will be printed in the paper, etc., factor into the low reporting rate. With mind-erasing drugs, it is difficult for the victim to report what he or she can’t remember or may only remember in a very sketchy way. When crime victims don’t or can’t report, we have no way of predicting the frequency or real impact of crime on society.

Other problems surrounding drug-induced sexual assaults are that testing and forensic evidence gathering techniques have not kept up. Most hospital drug screens will not show evidence of Rohypnol during a rape exam or in the event of an overdose unless it is specifically requested. Rohypnol does not show up on a normal benzodiazepine screen. Additionally, I have been told that there are no Texas hospitals equipped to test for GHB, nor is there a counter-agent on the market that will work in case of overdose. According to reports from the field, outside of a few privately operated labs, only the Dallas County Medical Examiner, Houston Medical Examiner, and Houston PD can test for GHB. The Department of Public Safety does not test for GHB at this time, but can test for Rohypnol. Without access to testing, we can not know what drugs are being used, in what areas with what frequency.

When there is a GHB overdose, which can be critical in terms of respiratory failure or other serious symptoms, all that the emergency medical personnel can do is to intubate the individual and hope for the best. Because both Rohypnol and GHB metabolize and are excreted from the body in a short period of time, this makes both intervention and evidence gathering difficult in the best of circumstances. Another problem lies with the lack of awareness of this problem by many hospital emergency personnel, particularly in rural areas. They may not know what to look for, or may assume that “just another drunk or junkie” has shown up in the emergency room, thus discounting their claims that they were drugged and assaulted. Both law enforcement and medical personnel need additional training to know what to look for and what protocol to follow to best treat patients and gather evidence.

Preliminary findings from an informal random TAASA survey of 20 Texas rape crisis centers provides some information about drug-induced sexual assault. It also raises some questions, particularly in the area of reporting this crime, which yielded a wide range of statistics in different communities. All 20 centers (100%) have seen clients who say that they were drugged and sexually assaulted, and the vast majority (80%) of centers thinks that this problem has gotten worse in the past two years. When asked how often drug-related sexual assaults were reported to the police, the respondents answered with mixed results, reporting between zero and 100% of crimes reported. These discrepancies in reporting could be accounted for by numerous variables, including community values, past experiences where police or district attorneys were reluctant to pursue sexual assault cases, age of victims, trauma, denial, economic, racial, and educational factors, etc. Additionally, in many rural counties, most referrals come from law enforcement, so a more in-depth study might be helpful to accurately account for these discrepancies.

Numbers of reports of persons reporting an assault by a “date rape drug” at the rape crisis centers vary widely, ranging from none to 25 clients per month. Of the cities surveyed, Austin, Corpus Christi and Galveston reported the largest number of these reports. Most centers report that they see at least one to two cases per month of this type of crime. About 50% of the centers think that “date rape drugs” are a problem in their local schools, but more often see alcohol and marijuana as the problematic drugs of choice. Several rural areas, such as Odessa and Stephenville state that there has been a problem, but it is just beginning to be recognized.

In response to the survey, one individual from Odessa wrote, “Drug induced sexual violence is in my area. Proof lies in the huge Rx Drug bust we had earlier this month. (Over 200,000 tablets of Rohypnol were reportedly seized in Midland in April, 1998). However, we are not seeing cases come forward. I am watching the local ERs, but have not seen any overdoses yet (Hope I never do).” It is not surprising that the respondent from Laredo reports that Rohypnol is commonly used as a party drug, because of its proximity to Mexico.

Another anecdotal aspect of this type of sexual assault involves the modus operandi. I have heard of at least five cases where both the male and female were drugged in order to get access to the female. The typical scenario is where both are at a club, bar or party, and the drug is placed in both drinks. When the male is incapacitated, the perpetrator then takes the female to another location where she is raped. Another involves increased sexual assault of males. These drugs obviously make it easier to overpower a male. The third scenario involves drugging in areas not club-related, such as campgrounds or in areas where college students and young adults are apt to congregate and may not think to suspect a drink of water. Because both GHB and Rohypnol are tasteless and odorless, they can easily be placed in any beverage.

 

Random Survey of 20 TAASA Rape Crisis Centers
		Q.1	Q.2	Q.3	Q.4	Q.5	Q.6	Q.7
City	Agency Name	Clients sexually assaulted with drugs?	Increased reporting past 2 years?	Reported to police?	Clients per month?	School problems with these drugs?	Drugs most often used in community by teenagers/young adults?	Additional Comments?
1. Abilene	Crime Victim Crisis Center	yes	yes	0%	2 per year	no	marijuana, alcohol, methamphetamine	We have done quite a bit of education during the past 3 months (45 programs/ 1,011 students) … concerning awareness/ prevention and these drugs as related to rape. We haven't seen a real problem yet, but expect to this summer.
2. Austin	Safe Place	yes	yes	maybe 10%	10	yes	alcohol, marijuana, acid	We've seen dramatic increase in last 6 months. Most who report to us are 16-20 yrs. old.
3. Bastrop	Family Crisis Center	yes	yes	most are referrals	2-3 per year	yes	alcohol, marijuana,mushrooms, inhalants	Alcohol is frequently involved in date rape. Most cases are referred to us by the police.
4. Bay City	Matagorda County Women's Center	yes	no	none	no	no	marijuana, cocaine	N/A
5. Bay Town	Bay Area Turning Point	yes	yes	100%	1 every 6 months	no	marijuana, cocaine	Law enforcement needs more training so that evidence is not lost.
6. Corpus Christi	Women's Shelter of CC	yes	yes	N/A	10-25	yes	marijuana	N/A
7. Dallas	Victim's Outreach	yes	yes	50-60%	1-2	don't know	N/A	N/A
8. Galveston	Women's Resource and Crisis Center	yes	yes	50%	9 per month	no	marijuana, alcohol	N/A
9. Jacksonville	Crisis Center of Cherokee	yes	yes	both	1 every 2 years	no	probably alcohol	N/A
10. Kerrville	Hill Country Crisis Center	yes	yes	80%	1-2	yes	don't know	Sketchy info.
11. Kilgore	Kilgore Community Crisis Center	yes	yes	15%	3 out of 4	no	tobacco, alcohol, marijuana	N/A
12. Laredo	Stop Child Abuse and Neglect	yes	yes	10%	2-3	yes	Rohypnol, Valium	Rohypnol is widely used by teenagers in our middle and high schools for person use, not as a weapon.

Random Survey of 20 TAASA Rape Crisis Centers (Cont)
		Q.1	Q.2	Q.3	Q.4	Q.5	Q.6	Q.7
City	Agency Name	Clients sexually assaulted with drugs?	Increased reporting past 2 years?	Reported to police?	Clients per month?	School problems with these drugs?	Drugs most often used in community by teenagers/young adults?	Additional Comments?
13. Longview	Women's Ctr. Of East Texas	yes	no	n/a	2 in 1996	no	marijuana and alcohol	In school, we discuss the effects of Rohypnol, GHB, and other drugs and alcohol.
14. McAllen	Mujeres Unidas - Women Together	yes	don't know	20%	2-4	yes	alcohol, roach, cocaine, and marijuana	Many times clients aren't sure if drugs were used on them; they can't remember.
15. Odessa	Rape Crisis Center	yes	yes	0%	1 or less	yes	Rohypnol and alcohol	This issue is just coming to the forefront in our community.
16. San Angelo	Assault Victim's Services	yes	yes	75%	0.3 (4 this year)	yes	alcohol, marijuana, GHB, and Rohypnol	We haven't gotten positive info whether it was GHB or Rohypnol, but testing was done in 3 of 4 cases.
18. Stephenville	Cross Timbers Family Service	yes	yes	all	1 or less	don't know	Rohypnol	Just beginning to surface here.
19. Tyler	East Texas Crisis Center	yes	no	most	seldom	no	alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana	While the incidence of Rohypnol abuse is very rare in our community, our high school students have heard about it and are very curious. It appears they are not getting any information about it outside of our presentations.
20. Unknown	unknown	yes	yes	5%	1	don't know	marijuana, alcohol, heroin, and speed