Charity urges Home Secretary to make spiking a criminal offence
Spiking drink with drugs in a bar or night club
Spiking Charity CEO, Dawn Dines wants laws to be introduced that will make spiking a serious offence and hopefully deter people from committing this crime.
Miss Dines has had meetings with Kent’s Crime Commissioner and found that after speaking to 1000s of women around the county one of the highest concerns was spiking issues.
On the 26th of October Miss Dines needs to speak to the House of Commons committee about the progress on creating a separate criminal offence for spiking.
She aims to show that spiking can take place in many forms and send a message to the public that there is zero tolerance towards spiking in order to achieve a change in the law.
“The law really needs to be updated… and more importantly emergency services should not look at victims as if it’s their fault. I think education needs to be shown that people are getting poisoned. It’s not the victim’s fault, it’s the perpetrators’ fault,” said Miss Dines.
The charity Stamp Out Spiking aims to raise awareness through education, promotions and campaigns. Miss Dines was nearly a victim of spiking in 1989 and this is what inspired her to create her charity. The website says:
“We need to shine a light on the problem in order to address it, so we encourage government bodies and relevant institutions to help us stamp it out.”
Stamp Out Spiking believes educating police officers in Kent and providing additional training will help everyone to understand what should be done with a victim of spiking.
Even though spiking is often done without the victim being aware, there are a few things you can do to help ensure you are keeping your drinks safe when you go out. These include not leaving your drinks unattended and also not letting others buy your drinks for you.
Miss Dines said: “If you are out and you start to feel your eyes going blurry, really shaky and unsteady on your feet, you’ve got a really small window to get help. You need to get to a trusted member of staff or a friend as soon as possible and tell them not to let you out of their sight, to keep you safe.”
