LEGAL SYSTEM CAN'T HELP DATE RAPE VICTIMS

Buying A Test Kit For Offending Drugs Is An Effective Way For Women To
Protect Themselves

Ignore the hand-wringing from women's organizations that a new test
kit for date-rape drugs is a cynical attempt to profit from female
fear.

Single women who drink in bars should run out and buy one. Their
paranoia is justified: The true bottom line is you'll get no redress
and little sympathy from the courts if you're a drugged rape victim.

Already available in Quebec, the $5.99 kit will do what the legal
system has been unable to do -- protect women from predators who spike
their drinks.

Drinkers apply drops of beverage to a blotting paper. If the drink
contains traces of GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate), ketamine or the
benzodiazepine group, which includes Valium and Xanax, the colour of
the test area changes.

I have followed cases of date rape and I have been legally restricted
from reporting the outcomes because the men -- often repeat offenders
- -- got off scot-free or with a slap on the wrist.

The evidence might not be good enough to win a conviction, but it is
usually so compelling and damaging to the men's reputations that
publication is problematic.

The rules and standards of criminal procedure give the benefit of the
doubt to the accused: Victims of date-rape drugs rarely have reliable
memories and previous unproven allegations, no matter how similar,
cannot be used as evidence at a trial.

After three years, for example, a high-profile case assembled by the
Vancouver police department resulted in a single guilty finding and
not a day in jail for the 45-year-old accused of several rapes.

The television warnings and appeals by police for victims to come
forward only led to those women being humiliated in court and feeling
abused again.

These men have a simple MO: Meet a woman, slip them a Mickey Finn,
escort them away and sexually assault them once the chemicals take
effect.

A few drops or grains of colourless, odourless drugs such as GHB can
cause unconsciousness in 15 to 20 minutes and usually cause memory
loss.

You wake up often bloody and sore in a strange bed with a man you
don't know and no or little recall of what happened.

If the woman or police question what happened, these savages claim
their victims were drunk, using drugs and consented. The addled women
don't stand a chance.

Police and prosecutors can rarely help. Consider a Metro Vancouver man
charged with four counts of sexual assault and one charge of
administering a noxious substance.

One woman was left bleeding from the nipples, her legs and arm
bruised. She also had significant pain and swelling to the vaginal
area and blood in her urine.

Here is what she said in her victim impact statement:

"I am unable to feel safe and secure and this has drained me of the
ability to feel happy or joyful because there is also the knowledge
that I have been damaged. I don't feel whole. I feel used, dominated,
broken, brutalized, and like my soul has been shattered. The very core
of my sense of self of being a strong capable woman has been taken
from me. Sorrow, anger, and fear are dominant emotions now. I feel
like I have nothing to offer anyone."

Prosecutors highlighted the aggravating factors and asked for a jail
sentence of between 12 and 18 months. There is no minimum sentence for
sex assault but the maximum is 10 years.

The judge didn't agree and suggested to the woman that maybe she
suffered only from "some rough play" she couldn't recall.

He dismissed three of the sexual assault charges and the noxious
substance charge, sentencing the man to no jail time and a year's probation.

Needless to say, the victim was stunned: "I think this whole fiasco
has been bungled from the very start."

Rape Relief complained loudly that none of those attacks would have
occurred had the police and courts responded properly when that man
was first caught in Whistler. He beat the charges there, too.

The courts treat each incident as a stand-alone, singular crime and
unproven allegations are considered inadmissible hearsay. The victims'
hazy recollections and the rules of evidence sink most
prosecutions.

Women's groups oppose these new test kits because they think the
system should do a better job and the onus should not be on women to
protect themselves.

I agree, but I also say don't put yourself at risk waiting for pigs to
fly. Every woman who goes out for a drink unfortunately must be on
alert: The system can't help you.

Buy a testing kit -- who cares if some company is pocketing a profit?
It's better than waking up in a strange bed groggy, abused and scarred
for life.