The Gendered Worlds of Drugging (or “Drink Spiking”)

• In Event: Investigating the Contemporary Narrative of Drugging: What Do the Data Tell Us?

Abstract

Drugging is defined as administering a drug to someone without their knowledge or consent. The present paper describes drugging experiences using data from a qualitative study with 49 individuals (29 female, 20 male) who were either victims of drugging, or had drugged others. Results reveal that drugging behavior, like other forms of violence, is highly gendered. Many male drugging victims were drugged by (male) friends, often in the context of drinking and taking drugs together on a regular basis. Most male victims did not like being drugged, but they did not believe that the person who drugged them was trying to hurt them. They often believed their friend drugged them “just for fun”. They saw the drugger as silly or immature, but not malicious. Often men remained friends with the drugger after the incident. In contrast to these less harmful experiences, some male victims were hurt by being drugged and perceived the drugger’s intent as malicious. For female victims, being drugged was perceived as threatening and dangerous. Women either had no idea who drugged them, or were drugged by a male acquaintance who then sexually assaulted them. Although most women were not sexually assaulted, almost all women felt violated by being drugged.

Authors

• Nicole V. Lasky, University of Cincinnati

• Suzanne C. Swan, University of South Carolina

• Bonnie S. Fisher, University of Cincinnati