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Seeking to ensure the safety of women and girls in Britain, the government is cracking down on this growing epidemic. With gender-based violence almost at a breaking point, however, the pledge must be matched with systemic change if it’s to make a tangible difference.
It’s common knowledge that gender-based violence (VAWG) is an ever-worsening issue throughout the UK and that local authorities aren’t doing nearly enough to protect us from it.
Though it’s prevalent worldwide, in Britain it’s been declared a national emergency, with crimes including stalking, harassment, and sexual assault affecting one in 12 of us.
Not only this, but the number of recorded offences has risen by 37% in the last five years.
This dramatic increase has a lot to do with the rapidly growing epidemic of spiking (which typically involves putting drugs into someone’s drink without their permission, but can also involve secretly injecting people – as has recently been the case – or adding drugs to food, vapes, or cigarettes).
According to DrinkAware, 2.2% of the country’s adult population reported having their drinks spiked in the 12 months leading up to the 2023 survey, which equates to around 1.2m people.
Around half of those impacted by these incidents do not inform the police because they ‘don’t see the point.’
Making note of this and in an effort to encourage more victims to come forward, the government has just moved to criminalise spiking and implement coordinated measures across the night-time economy, such as training hospitality workers to prevent and deal with it.
