PLEA gratefully acknowledges our primary core funder the Law Foundation of Saskatchewan for their continuing and generous support of our organization.
Perpetrators of sexual assault may use drugs to decrease resistance to assault and to cause memory loss of the assault. The use of drugs is a clear indication that these sexual assaults are planned and premeditated.
If you are drugged and experience sexual assault, it is the perpetrator of the assault who is to blame even if you took the drug willingly. You cannot give consent to sexual activity if you incapable of doing so due to drugs or alcohol.
Drugs may be processed by the body quickly which can make it difficult to detect them. To preserve evidence, early testing for the presence of drugs in your system is important. Depending on what drug was given, you may have little memory of the sexual assault and may only get bits and pieces of memory back. You will likely feel very confused and disoriented.
The healing process may be made more difficult because of the lack of memory. This can make it hard to acknowledge that what happened was a sexual assault. Survivors are likely to blame themselves for the assault due to drugs and alcohol being involved. If this happened to you, it is not your fault.
Media portrayals often involve a victim that has been slipped something like Rohypnol® or GHB. However, the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada reports that alcohol is actually the most common drug involved in drug-facilitated sexual assault.
Most survivors of sexual assault who were drugged report suddenly feeling strangely light-headed and intoxicated. They may have visual and physical impairment. They may wake up but still feel drowsy, confused, weak and have poor coordination. A survivor will often have almost no recollection of what took place since starting to feel light-headed. When they can remember parts of the assault, they may recall feeling paralyzed, powerless or disconnected from their body. When alcohol is the only substance used, survivors may feel that they got drunker than they had planned that night. They may also have some memories of having sexual activity that was not planned.
In drug-facilitated sexual assaults, it is possible that the survivor has little or no recollection of a sexual assault. The following are some indications that a drug-facilitated sexual assault has occurred.
Physical indications include:
Other indications include:
PLEA offers free online training on preventing and addressing workplace harassment.