RESEARCH ON DRUG RAPE IS PLANNED

Specialist rape centres in England and Wales are to conduct the first ever
official research on drug rape, according to reports.

The campaign has been launched to determine how big a threat the problem
poses after senior police officers pointed out there were no official
statistics on drug assisted rape.

The research will be carried out by nine rape centres and the results are
expected to be known next year.

Specialist centres will screen rape cases where it is suspected that drugs
are involved, or where the victim alleges drugs were used to attack them.

Many campaigns have been launched to tackle the problem where free testing
kits have been given out to revellers so they can checks their drinks
during a night out.

Despite several proven cases of spiked drinks being used to drug victims,
there are no reliable figures to highlight the scale of the offences.

Drug rape victim group the Roofie Foundation says it has received more than
6,000 calls to its helpline since 1997.