‘I’m just sick of people not being believed’: Authorities urged to do more to crack down on spiking

Spiking is in the spotlight once again.

Bars, nightclubs, and music festivals are being urged to do more to stamp out the issue of spiking.

Initiatives launched in Britain in recent months have put the issue back in the limelight, with 5,000 reports made relating to potential spiking each year.

CEO of the Sexual Violence Centre Cork (SVCC) Mary Crilly has said she is “sick of people not being believed” after raising concerns that they have been spiked, and she has called for greater participation from venues in tackling the issue.

Her comments come as Stamp Out Spiking Day was launched in Britain in July, an initiative that Ms Crilly feels Ireland can “gear towards” in the near future.

“I’m not saying we can eradicate it, but we can definitely raise awareness about it,” Ms Crilly says. 

She adds that venues have a big role to play in tackling the issue of spiking.

She says research shows that small actions such as hanging a poster “in your bar to say, ‘No spiking here’ — it doesn’t happen, because people know they’re being watched”.

“Any venue that has their head screwed on will want everyone to have a good time, and for nothing to happen to [attendees],” she says.

The Satu Annual Report 2022 published in July says that of 1,072 attendants nationwide, 21%, or approximately 225 people, were concerned that drugs (including alcohol) had been used to facilitate sexual assault. 

In 2019 (pre-covid), this figure stood at 13%, or 122 people out of a total of 941.

Safe Gigs — an SVCC initiative aiming to eliminate abuse at gigs, concerts, events, and nightlife — released data to the Irish Examiner from its Spiking Hub. 

The hub collects feedback from victims of recent or historical spiking.

Based on 116 respondents in the six-month period to June 2022, 27% said they reported the issue to the venue. 

Of those who spoke to the venue, one-third said the venue’s response was “very poor” while some 20.5% said the response was “very good”.

One respondent said: “Bouncers should have had a better response than throwing a girl out on her own who had been near unconscious.” 

In a statement, An Garda Síochána said that figures on reports of alleged spiking for 2022 and 2023 are not available at this time. 

A spokesperson for gardaí said it encourages any victim of spiking to come forward and report the incident to local gardaí.

“An Garda Síochána continues to work closely in co-operation with agencies including the Department of Health, the HSE, and Forensic Science Ireland to ensure that any emerging trend in spiking and associated risks are monitored and addressed with the objective of keeping people safe,” they said.

“All incidents of sexual crime including those with evidence to suggest a link with spiking are thoroughly investigated An Garda Síochána through the divisional proactive services units operating under the Garda National Protective Services Bureau,” the spokesperson added.

While gardaí were unable to present data, figures raised in the Dáil in recent months said 106 reports of potential spiking had been made in 2022, up from around a dozen just two years earlier. 

Ms Crilly says people presenting at the SVCC with the concern that they have been spiked often tell her, “I know what I took, I know what I didn’t take”.

“And they know the difference,” she adds.

Venue participation

Ms Crilly says greater venue participation is needed.

“I would really like to ask the venues, ‘Why not? What is the problem?’ because you’re not asking them to do an investigation or asking them to get involved with the guards, you’re not asking them to appear in court or anything.

“You’re just asking them to help with looking at spiking in Cork and the prevalence of spiking in Cork.

"And they can do it so easy, and I’m asking, ‘Why not?’ 

“Is their reputation more important than the safety and the protection of people who use those venues? If you say, ‘spiking is not happening [in these premises]’, well then let’s do the testing and find out,” Ms Crilly says.

As reported in the Irish Examiner in July, Safe Gigs and the SVCC are working to get testing kits into venues.

These kits — involving a saliva swab and urine sample — will be given to those who feel they or their friend might have been spiked. 

It will be sent to a lab for testing where up to 3,000 different substances can be detected.

Sourcing a lab to facilitate the tests for free is the final hurdle in getting the concept over the line, but Ms Crilly is confident that they will have one confirmed at the end of the summer.

While the kits will not be used in a criminal case, they will give people peace of mind. 

Ms Crilly says that some of the people presenting at the SVCC “just want to know, ‘was I spiked or not?’” 

Proprietor of a number of venues across Cork, Benny McCabe told the Irish Examiner that at the moment, his venues have their own protocols in place; that if someone raises concerns of spiking, parents and/or the ambulance service are contacted. 

He said he was open to engaging with the SVCC on the potential roll-out of the test kits, adding that there would be “a lot to discuss, but I would love to help out”.

“Once there was a legal and operational framework, we’d be happy to explore establishing a protocol,” Mr McCabe said.

Cork-based festival Indiependence takes place this weekend in Mitchelstown, with acts including Cian Ducrot, Lyra, Two Door Cinema Club, and The Coronas among the line-up across the three days. 

In correspondence with the Irish Examiner, organisers said that while they have not seen spiking flagged as an issue at the festival, they are aware it is happening around the country and so ensure that medical staff are fully prepared in the event that it happens.

“We have a large medical presence at Indie, doctors, advanced paramedics, paramedics, first responders etc so multiple people who are trained to deal with this should it arise. 

"Equally, there is a large presence from An Garda Siochána at Indie — so from a medical side of looking after someone, but also should evidence be required for any future prosecution, we have that presence also,” organisers said.

Looking at potentially using the test kits being worked on by Safe Gigs, Indiependence organisers acknowledged the work of Ms Crilly and Safe Gigs.

Safe Gigs and the SVCC are working to get testing kits into venues.

“Music is the key of life, concerts, and festivals should be safe and inclusive environments for all people so we will always be willing to work with Mary and her team on anything like this now and in the future.” 

While groundwork is being laid for a Stamp Out Spiking Day in Ireland, Ms Crilly says there is still a very clear message.

“Spiking is happening — we really need to realise it’s happening,” she says.

“I’m just tired of people not being believed, I’m really sick and tired of people not being believed,” says Ms Crilly, “and they ask for very little. I think victims of sexual assault ask for very little.

“But even sometimes for them to ask for anything is too much for society — where the perpetrator asks for nothing, they just ask to ‘shut up, be silent’. So as long as we keep silent, I think issues like spiking are being tolerated.

“And there’s no way around it."