Watch your glass
Don’t accept cigarettes
What to do if you think you have been drugged
What to do if you think you have been raped

Watch your glass

These drugs reduce inhibitions and cause loss of consciousness and memory. They also vanish quickly from the body and so are difficult to detect. Typically colourless, odourless and tasteless they can easily be added to unwatched drinks with devastating results.

Don’t accept cigarettes

In a newer trend, cigarettes, dipped in embalming fluid or other chemicals, can reduce women’s inhibitions for just long enough to allow their drink to be spiked without them noticing.

What to do if you think you have been drugged

If you feel strange or drunk after only a couple of drinks then you may have been drugged.
Do find a trusted friend to take you home or, failing that, speak to the landlord or bar manager, tell them of your fears and ask for help.
Do not accept any offers of help from a stranger or a casual acquaintance - they could well be the person who spiked your drink or cigarette and intend to rape.

What to do if you think you have been raped

Part of the combined side effects of ‘date rape’ drugs and the trauma of actual rape is loss of memory. Often women do not realize that they have been raped until some days later when they may begin to experience flashbacks. Others will wake up, not knowing how they got to be in a particular place, but aware through genital soreness and bruising, that something has happened to them.

If this happens to you, find someone you can trust to talk to visit a GUM clinic for the protection against STDs take the morning after pill.

If you wish to report it to the police, keep items such as clothing in a separate bag for forensic evidence.

Watford Rape Crisis & Sexual Abuse Line is here to offer advice, support and counselling.