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Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/6440589/Date-rape-drink-spiking-an-urban-legend.html
Widespread spiking of drinks with date-rape drugs such as Rohypnol and GHB is an "urban legend" fuelled by young women unwilling to accept they have simply consumed too much alcohol, academics believe. A study of more than 200 students revealed many wrongly blamed the effects of a "bad night out" on date-rape drugs, when they had just drunk excessively.
Many are in "active denial" that drinking large amounts of alcohol can leave them "incoherent and incapacitated", the Kent University researchers concluded. Young women's fears about date-rape drugs are so ingrained that students mistakenly think it is a more important factor in sexual assault than being drunk, taking drugs or walking alone at night.
The study, published in the British Journal of Criminology, found three-quarters of students identified drink spiking as an important risk – more than alcohol or drugs. More than half said they knew someone whose drink had been spiked.
But despite popular beliefs, police have found no evidence that rape victims are commonly drugged with such substances, the researchers said.
Dr Adam Burgess from the university's School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, said: "Young women appear to be displacing their anxieties about the consequences of consuming what is in the bottle on to rumours of what could be put there by someone else.
(Score: 0, Redundant) by kurenai.tsubasa on Tuesday September 20 2016, @10:26PM
Nonono! We must continue to use the Schrödinger's Rapist Dance when approaching a woman for conversation, not because assigned males are all that way, you see, but because assigned males are like a bowl of M&Ms [npr.org]. From the article:
"UNFAIR! NOT ALL MEN!" Imagine a bowl of M&Ms. 10% of them are poisoned. Go ahead. Eat a handful. Not all M&Ms are poison. #YesAllWomen
So, you see, it's not just in women's heads! This is an important issue! Does it really matter if it's 10% or 1% of M&Ms? Or if it was only actually commonplace in the imaginations of people who present date rape training presentations? You wouldn't want to eat a poisoned M&M, would you?!
*hits preview* *checks hyperlink*
Oops! I'd better correct that. I somehow posted a link about Skittles, which are completely different from M&Ms. Skittles are more like toadstools [theintercept.com], you see. The link I'd meant to use is this one from Slate [slate.com].
There! All fixed! Submit!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 20 2016, @11:36PM
I'm impressed that the same groups can make the M&M's analogy towards men and it is considered wise and prudent, yet when Trump makes the same analogy towards Muslims (or Mexicans), it's racist.
There is no honest discussion happening, and especially with how widespread the date rape drug stories have gone, it puts it firmly in the category of mass hysteria.
And if we are honest, I'm to the point where I just don't care anymore.
From the Duke Lacrosse team to Sabrina Erdely's story, there is more than enough doubt for ALL of it, and my default is to doubt any claims made by a woman concerning sexual assault and put the onus for their protection squarely in their laps.
Not my problem.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 21 2016, @04:39PM
Does it really matter if it's 10% or 1% of M&Ms?
Yes it does. It matters a lot.
If a restaurant has a 10% chance of giving me food poisoning, I wouldn't go. If it had a .0000001% chance of giving me food poisoning, I would.
If driving a car had a 10% chance of causing me to be maimed in an accident, I would find another mode of transportation, or stay home. If it had a .0000001% chance, I would drive without worry.
if I had a 10% chance of being raped on a date, I wouldn't go. If I had a .0000001% chance, I wouldn't worry about it.
If a bowl of a hundred skittles had 3 poisoned, I wouldn't grab a handful. If an Olympic swimming pool full of them had 3 bad ones, it wouldn't be hard to convince me to try a sample.
Trying to get to 100% security is impossible, and trying to get there is how we end up with all sorts of repressive legislation.
I can't believe that I need to explain that probabilities matter on SN...