RAPE DRUGS AN ALARMING TREND

MONTREAL, PQ. (CUP) - Rape itself is terrible enough, but when you add
the desperate premeditation and chemical subjugation associated with
date rape, it becomes unspeakably worse. It is not only the victim's
body that is being raped, it is her mind as well. You'd think that at
some point along the line - between making the decision to rape
someone, searching for and obtaining the drugs, slipping them into
somebody's drink, and forcing this awful sex upon their limp, sedated
body - it would occur to the perpetrators of this crime that what they
are doing is, well, disgusting. But no - it is still a threat.

Due to the fact that the drugs generally cause amnesia and leave the
body within 24 to 72 hours, there are few available statistics on
their use in Canada and the United States. Some sources estimate that
80 per cent of rapes involve drugs; other sources estimate that this
number is only 15 per cent. Victims rarely recall the details of the
assault, and by the time they do, all traces of the drug have been
washed out of the body.

Additionally, it is not always easy for victims to come forward after
an assault, as it is a traumatizing event.

"It's really two distinguished violent actions which occur to the
woman or man who has to go through it . . . You're being raped, but,
at the same time, your body is being raped, and not only sexually,"
says Annick Legault, of the Women Who Go Out organization.

This becomes especially hazardous when the victim is taking other
medications, which may not mix safely with the rape drug used.

According to Legault, the drugs used are mostly those of the
benzodiazepine family, although it is unwise to make an explicit list,
as such a list could be dangerous in the wrong hands.

"When we do conferences," she explains, "especially if we do them in
universities, CEGEPs, or schools, we tend to just say the
benzodiazepine family, so at least the people have to do their own
homework if they ever want to try them."

The effects of these drugs, or "roofies", vary slightly from person to
person, but on their own they aren't that threatening. It's when these
chemicals are combined with alcohol that they become dangerous. When
mixed with booze, these drugs produce a state of mind similar to
intoxication, in which judgment and sexual prudence are gravely
impaired - this is exactly why they are used so often to procure
illegitimate sex.

"The effects that people normally want in their victim will be for
them to be extremely sexual, for them to be outgoing, and wanting.
And, on top of it, to suffer from amnesia," says Legault.

Mistakes in dosing, however, can result in extreme states such as
temporary paralysis and vomiting, the combination of which can be fatal.

So, what kind of a person takes delight in forcing sex on a virtually
comatose partner? Unfortunately, the few statistics available suggest
that the rapist is almost always somebody the victim knows. In many
cases, it is the victim's boyfriend.

"People have to realize," says Legault, "that it's not the person in
the alleyway wearing the dark trench coat who's going to actually
necessarily use [these drugs]." The use of date rape drugs is most
prevalent at the beginning of the academic year and during holidays,
when people are partying the most.

As for the prevention of these occurrences, Legault says that there is
too much emphasis on the women being raped and not enough on the men
doing the raping - emphasis which makes victims feel that it was
partially their own fault for not being more alert. A more
constructive approach is to foster awareness and sensitivity about how
serious an offence it is to slip sedatives into someone's drink and
then rape them.

"What we're hoping is that enough people are aware of it so that, for
instance, if there is a group of guys and one of them tries to do it,
and if everyone around him is aware of it and against it, then we're
hoping that this will put pressure on him to stop," she says, adding
it is important to make sure men realize that rape is not a conquest
and that temporary paralysis is not a turn on.