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Drug Facilitated Sexual Assault
Warning signs that you have been drugged:
- If you recall drinking or having a drink but can’t recall what happened for a period of time after consuming a drink.
- If you suspect that sexual contact has taken place but cannot remember any or the entire incident.
- If you feel more intoxicated than you usually do after drinking an amount of alcohol you are used to consuming.
- If you wake up feeling hung over and/or experience a memory lapse or if you cannot account for periods of time.
- If you feel drowsy, dizzy, agitated, confused, weak, numb, nauseous, or if you experience an increased heart rate or blood pressure, slurred speech, or a lack of motor coordination.
If you or someone you know might have been assaulted under the influence of one of these drugs:
- Get to a safe place.
- Ask a trusted friend to stay with you and assist you in getting the help you need.
- Call the police (911)
- Immediately seek medical help.
- Preserve as much physical evidence as possible. Do not urinate, shower, bathe, douche, or throw away any of the clothing you were wearing during the incident.
- Describe any and all symptoms fully to your physician and nurse.
- Make your doctor and nurse aware that you may have been drugged. It is imperative that you be tested as soon as possible for the drug’s presence in your body. Most of these substances can be only detected for a short period of time after ingestion: 4-72 hours.
- Insist that you receive an evidence collecting examination. Request a urine sample for drug toxicology testing to be done by your law enforcement agency crime lab. A special test must be conducted to detect any drug in the urine specimen.
- If possible, find the cups or glasses from which you drank and submit these to the police for any laboratory tests.
If you are unsure of what to do, call the Virginia Statewide Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-838-8238 to locate your local sexual assault crisis center for further information.
Victim Impact
Surviving a sexual assault is a difficult journey for any victim. Often, victims of sexual assault experience intense feelings of guilt, shame, anger, embarrassment, distrust towards others and anxiety. When someone is the victim of a drug-facilitated sexual assault, those feelings can be magnified due to the unique nature of these attacks. Because memory loss often accompanies drug-facilitated assaults, victims are frequently unable to identify their attacker. It is not unusual for victims to be unclear about the specific details of the assault. Gaining knowledge of the attack (perhaps from witnesses or accomplices of the perpetrator) can increase the fear of the unwanted consequences of sexual assault, including contraction of sexually transmitted diseases and/or pregnancy. When a victim's memory is taken, the perception of safety and the person's sense of well-being is greatly altered. This fear of the unknown can amplify the victim’s trauma symptoms.
Back to Drug and Acohol Facilitated Sexual Assault
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