(Most of the information in this factsheet is based on the Central Sydney Area Health Service publication Drugged and Assaulted: information for people who have been drugged and sexually assaulted, April 2000.)

Sexual assault services, including the NSW Rape Crisis Centre, have increasingly been seeing people who have been deliberately drugged, then sexually assaulted.

This crime can happen to anyone, but often it's young people out with friends who are targeted. Drugs are slipped into drinks, victims are plied with alcohol or other drugs and 'taken advantage of'. The drug or alcohol is used as a weapon to make the person vulnerable to sexual assault.

In Australia, it's a crime to give someone a drug without their permission. The person who did it could face other charges such as abducting (holding someone against their will) or kidnapping (holding someone for an advantage).

What drugs are used?
Apart from alcohol, favourites are sleeping pills and drugs to control anxiety. They include Valium, Serepax and Rohypnol ('rohies'), which all belong to a group of drugs called benzodiazepines.

Another drug, a sedative, is known on the street as GBH-an abbreviation for its chemical name (gammahydroxybutyrate), but also for 'grievous bodily harm'.

Hallucinogens like ecstasy are used too; so are opiates, like heroin. Victims often get a combination of drugs such as alcohol and a benzodiazepine.

What do the drugs do?
The effect drugs have on you depends on the kinds of drugs that were used, how much, and in what combinations, as well as a lot of other things, from when you last ate to how big you are.

Benzodiazepines, opiates, or a combination of these (with each other or with alcohol) can make you look as if you're drunk.

People under the influence of benzodiazepines sometimes do things they normally wouldn't dream of doing-like leaving a bar with a stranger, or having unsafe sex with someone they don't particularly like.

Hallucinogens like LSD or ecstasy can make you confused and frightened, particularly if you've never had them before. It makes a sexual assault even more frightening.
Depending on the drug, the effects may last for hours, or days. There may also be a hangover.

Memory loss
If a benzodiazepine was used, you may not have a clear memory of the assault. You may not remember it at all. You may be physically injured, but you can't remember what happened. Don't try to fill in the gaps in your memory by imagining the worst things that could have happened. That will only add to the stress. Loss of memory can make it hard to prove the assault, especially when there's no memory of who did it, or where and how it happened.

In the 15 months between August 1998 and October 1999, 55 people who came to the Eastern and Central Sexual Assault Services at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital said they had been drugged before being sexually assaulted. This was 17% of all cases at the service during that period.

Don't blame yourself!
If you have been drugged and sexually assaulted you may feel you were somehow to blame. You may think something like, 'It was my fault, I shouldn't have let him buy me that drink.'

No! There's no way you are to blame. Someone who drugs their victim has planned their crime. They have deliberately made themselves seem friendly and non-threatening to get your trust. And anyone under the influence of a drug behaves differently, especially if they didn't know they were taking it.

Reporting to police
You may report the assault to police (see our factsheet "Reporting to Police"), but if you can't remember the assault, or who did the assaulting, the situation may be more complicated. The police may have trouble finding out who to charge. It may even be hard to prove in court that an offence happened.

The police can give you advice about this. Even if it is not possible to charge anyone, you can make an informal report to police that may help them investigate similar assaults.

Medical care
It is important to seek medical attention as soon as possible after a sexual assault. A urine sample can sometimes (and sometimes not) confirm that a drug was used. (See our factsheet on "Medical treatment")

Getting help
You don't have to deal with it secretly, on your own. You can get medical care and counselling from NSW Health Sexual Assault Services. They have a lot of experience in this area. Even if you can't remember it clearly, you can still talk to a trained counsellor at the NSW Rape Crisis Centre or a sexual assault service about what happened and how it's affecting you.

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