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posted by janrinok on Tuesday September 20 2016, @08:58PM   Printer-friendly
from the I'll-drink-to-that dept.

Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard

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.


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  • (Score: 2) by Immerman on Wednesday September 21 2016, @04:12AM

    by Immerman (3985) on Wednesday September 21 2016, @04:12AM (#404650)

    On the other hand, I could also see your statement being intended to specifically at refute the headline, which as is so often the case grossly misrepresents the article. In which case I would recommend explicitly calling out the bad headline in the future, as such are always fair game for caustic sniping, but which without clarification can often be easily misinterpret as being directed at the substance of the article

    Starting Score:    1  point
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  • (Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Wednesday September 21 2016, @04:26AM

    by NotSanguine (285) <NotSanguineNO@SPAMSoylentNews.Org> on Wednesday September 21 2016, @04:26AM (#404653) Homepage Journal

    On the other hand, I could also see your statement being intended to specifically at refute the headline, which as is so often the case grossly misrepresents the article. In which case I would recommend explicitly calling out the bad headline in the future, as such are always fair game for caustic sniping, but which without clarification can often be easily misinterpret as being directed at the substance of the article

    I wish I'd read this before I replied to your previous comment, as I'd have included it in my initial response.

    Yes, the headline misrepresents the article. However, that wasn't the driving force behind my initial comment.

    I was mostly motivated by the tone of many posters that (which was, perhaps, a misinterpretation on my part), IMHO dismissed the seriousness of rape/sexual assault. Non-consensual sex, or non-consensual *anything* for that matter, is repugnant and should be dealt with harshly. Denying sentient beings agency and control over their own persons is, IMHO, heinous and should not be tolerated.

    --
    No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
    • (Score: 2) by Immerman on Wednesday September 21 2016, @05:24AM

      by Immerman (3985) on Wednesday September 21 2016, @05:24AM (#404660)

      I certainly can't argue with that.

      But if that was your intent, then your chosen comment subject and opening quote seems to misdirect the impact of your statement, posing as a disagreement with the article, when instead your argument would seem to be with the flippancy and disrespect of some of the commenters.

      • (Score: 1, Offtopic) by NotSanguine on Wednesday September 21 2016, @05:38AM

        by NotSanguine (285) <NotSanguineNO@SPAMSoylentNews.Org> on Wednesday September 21 2016, @05:38AM (#404669) Homepage Journal

        I certainly can't argue with that.

        You can, and apparently, you are.

        As I've repeatedly said (including in my initial post), rape/sexual assault is, regardless of the frequency with which rphypnol/GHB/etc are used, is unacceptable behavior.

        Full stop.

        If you really want to continue this discussion, please, by all means, do so. However, I have already said all I meant to say. As such, it's unlikely that such a discussion will be very interesting. But far be it for me to tell you what (or how) you should say or do. Carry on.

        --
        No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
        • (Score: 2) by Immerman on Wednesday September 21 2016, @03:03PM

          by Immerman (3985) on Wednesday September 21 2016, @03:03PM (#404796)

          Since you apparently misunderstood, I will repeat myself more explicitly, and hopefully with less ambiguity:

          I cannot (and have not) made any argument against the fact that rape and sexual assault are completely unacceptable. I agree with you completely on that point.

          My initial comment was targeted *only* at your question:
          >Where exactly am I "...focusing on the date rape drug aspect?"
          And my response is that you are doing so by oening (andhaving almost your entire comment focus on the frequency of date rape drug use:

          >Operative Term In TFS
          >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.
          >
          >This doesn't mean that rape/assault doesn't happen, and it doesn't mean that Rohypnol/GHB aren't ever used as described.
          >
          >Regardless of any findings, consent is not optional. Full stop.

          5 lines.
          The first 3 lines focused exclusively on the frequency of date rape drug use.
          1 line pointing out that rape, and the use of rape drugs, do in fact happen - a point I don't see anyone contesting.
          And finally all of 6 words objecting to rape itself.

          Both the tone and weight of content lend itself to being interpreted as a disagreement with the article's point that overblown concern over date rape drugs is distracting women from the fact that excessive alcohol consumption can itself expose them to the same risks, and is the far larger real danger.

          Your closing line, the only one that carries any point close to "rape is bad" then feels like little more than a tacked-on parting shot at any potential rapists in the audience that might think otherwise

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 21 2016, @02:51PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 21 2016, @02:51PM (#404793)

        you and the other poster are just dumb. it is obvious if you actually read the posts that he was responding to the conversation as it unfolded. you two boneheads just didn't understand what he was arguing with.