GHB

Girls Just Want to Have Fun but Awareness is Key in a world where guys unknowlingly spike girls' drinks with drugs like the oderless and tasteless date-rape drug Ghb. Never leave a drink unattended or trust a stranger.  This YouTube clip demonstrates how easy it is when you are alone, vulnerable, and unaware: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZTS6xetxWs

Date-Line

Dateline did an undercover film on how easy it is to spike girls drinks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2udrpuNxcmM  Be smart, never take your drink from a stranger. And, never leave your drink unattentdent. There are date-rape drug testers that you can carry with you to test your drink. This film seems to highlight the vulnerability of women in club settings.

Blog On

There are other bloggers who are speaking out about rape and date-rape: http://peppereyes.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/sexual-assault-by-the-numbers/ . It is our voices in unison that will eventually change our culture and awaken social consciousness and draw awarness to the issue of sexual predators who rape and who put date-rape drugs in womens' and young girls' drinks. It is not about sterotypes...neither victims nor rapists fit stereotypes. It can be anyone you know and trust, who will rape or be raped. it is a violent crime against feminine humanity. We cannot allow reports and statistics to squew reality. Rape, Date-rape, and date rape drugs exists and are a threat to the respectful dignity of the female gender.  

Amanda Hess Article - Inspiring & Insightful

I just read an inspiring awareness piece by Amanda Hess on putting to rest the date-rape urban myth and incorporate it here for you: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/sexist/2009/10/28/the-date-rape-drug-is-in-an-urban-myth-lets-put-it-to-rest/ Ms. Hess nails the fact that sex without consent is rape. Rape, is not the exclusive domain of what we think of as villians. It can be your husband, your cousin, your trusted friend, the guys at the office, your boyfriend, or other seemingly normal guys, says Ms. Hess. Likewise, rape victims are not just young school girls but also women from all age groups and all walks of life, including those who drink alcohol. Just because a woman goes to a bar and drinks doesn't imply consent. Rape is still rape. My daughter was not raped, someone slipped the date-rape drug, Ghb, into something she was drinking and she went into  a coma. No one called 911; she died within 6-7 hours. It is the predatory behavior that alarms me, and should be setting off alarms in our society. Woman are victimized and are disappearing every day, and are never again seen by family and friends. I have often wondered if date-rape drugs are used to render girls/women unconscious, and then they are transported away in their unconscious state to some hiding place. I found this article about a cruise ship incident of Ghb spiking and a young girl's subsequent death: http://www.cruiselawnews.com/tags/date-rape-drug/.

Is the Urban Myth Fact or Fiction

The urban myth study is still headlining the news. Here is a link to an exhaustive look at the issues: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1225854/Are-date-rape-spiked-drinks-urban-myth.html "The real threat," it says in the article, "is not what is put into your drink, but the drink itself."  In other words, it implies that woman are delusional and think they have been drugged when actually they drank too much. The research/study  indicates that "alcohol is far more likely to be a factor in rape and sexual assault than drug spiking." While this may be true, it doesn't negate the fact that drink spiking is occuring. One of the concerns is that while a "fear of drink spiking prevails, too little attention will be paid to how much women are drinking." This returns to my question: Why should how much a woman drinks be a contributing factor in date-rape. Rape is rape! If a woman has been drinking and someone slips a powerful date-rape drug into the drink there is a chance that she will not survive the synergistic affects of alcohol and date-rape drug. Then it becomes a question as to whether the woman contributes to her demise by having drank. The reasoning is not right. Just because a woman drinks or drinks too much she should not be more at risk for date-rape.





 

Date-rape drug Ghb Kills

I came across this May 2009 article about a woman who was unknowlingly ingested the date-rape drug Ghb and died. Two guys put Ghb in her drink. She knew the guys; she worked with them. http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2009/05/boaz_woman_died_after_being_gi.html It is amazing that there seems to be an effort to defuse much of the publicity about date-rape by pointing to the similar effects of alcohol to date-rape drugs. Like a woman wouldn't know whether she has been drugged. There are some who are saying that women who drink heavily contribute to date-rape. I don't get that...because you are drunk and vulnerable you are somehow contributing to date-rape. That kind of logic escapes me! Any time sex occurs without consent, it is rape. The message seems to be: women who drink heavily are at risk for date-rape. And, What about date-rape drugs? Some woman do not survive the ingestion of date-rape drugs like Ghb (see link above). Ghb is the drug that killed my datughter. She ingested it unknowingly. She also was with some boys she knew. Ghb is deadly. Don't be a statistic, stay informed: http://www.projectghb.org/2008/factsheets/ghbFacts-eng.php

Date-Rape and Comic Fodder???

There is no connection...date-rape and comic fodder. Yet, this has become the new "hot" media topic. Where is the humor in the humorless? Poor taste...capitalist...take whatever social issue is at the center of heated debate and defuse its impact, add humor. Social trends? What implies consent? Delirium mixed with explicited comments by a warm-blooded, drugged-out, female...drugged-out on Alcohol, Ghb, or Rohypnol...What does it matter as long as the effect is incapcitation. When does sexual violence become humor? Sick-sensed, should be the trailor for this engagement. http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/observe-and-report/red-band-trailer But, here we are 21st century and misogynism is still justified by a comedic sense. Maybe when we can calculate the losses to 1 in 3 women victimized by date-rape, we can begin to grasp the senseless destruction to the face of humanity caused by date-rape and date-rape drugs. But, here we are staring at the underbelly of life but that is not an image we want to bring into focus, it is too real. The dehumanizing of the very aspect of life that creates...woman. I am insensed by our culture, which minimizes victimization and finds comedic value in the senselessness of date-rape, even if for only 90 minutes on the big screen. It is a minute in time.

Date Rape Videos

It all happens so innocently, so quickly, so unexpectantly and, yet, there you are with a boy and he offers you a drink. You have no idea that the drink is spiked, you like the boy, you trust him, and there you are. The drink, what was it? You feel dizzy. You feel queezy. You loose your inhibitions. If your lucky you escape with your life. This video tells the story. http://www.break.com/usercontent/2006/11/Date-Rape-182852.html It happens. Or maybe you drink too much and someone gives you a ride home. All you remember is leaving the bar but in the morning you are naked, and you know he took you while you were past out. It happened to me. It happened to my daughter. But someone drugged her with Ghb. She did not live. My hope is to raise awareness. Here is a video about asking someone for a ride home after too many drinks...it happens, and it can happen to you unless you become aware of your surroundings and the need to always be with a friend, someone you can trust...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08uLS5SlfZg

Date-Rape Lipstick Detector

A UK woman has produced a new lipstick product (2LoveMyLips) that includes a date-rape drug detector: tiny slips of paper that you can use to check the presence of date-rape drugs in your drink. http://womens-sexual-health.suite101.com/article.cfm/new_lipsticks_can_give_wearers_a_red_alert  Another article claims that the product actually turns your lips blue if the drink is spiked with date-rape drugs. http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/date-rape-preventing-lip-gloss. Check out this site, Project Ghb, for more information on date-rape drugs and the aftermath. http://www.projectghb.org/2008/index.php.

Kent Universty "Urban Myth" Refuted

The Kent University study is sexist propaganda. My daughter, and other young women, have died because of powerful date-rape drugs. It doesn't seem right that studies like this surface and negate the issue of predators and puts the burden back on woman to watch how they dress or watch how much they drink. How does a woman contribute to her own victimization. Other experts are stepping forward to question what the Kent study actually does. Does it move us forward in our awareness about date-rape drugs and date-rape. What matters to me, is the devasting affect that date-rape drugs can have on the respiratory system. Not only do woman stand the chance of being raped but these drugs also kill. http://www.3news.co.nz/NZ-experts-reject-researchers-claim-of-drink-spike-myth/tabid/420/articleID/128205/Default.aspx?ArticleID=128205