DATE RAPE DRUGS
Safety Tips for Women

Date rape drugs are oh so stealthy:

Sarah, a college freshman anxious to meet new friends, gladly accepted an invitation to a party. Too young to legally drink alcohol, she insisted on drinking soda instead. She drank a few sips then left it unattended while she danced, finishing it afterward. She can't remember anything after that.

She was the victim of a common crime: the spiking of a woman's drink with drugs as a prelude to rape – oftentimes gang rape. Some rapists will also drug a woman's boyfriend to get him out of the way.

The wide variety of drugs usually make you feel abnormally intoxicated, such as heaviness in limbs, nausea, dizziness, losing peripheral vision then consciousness, memory blackouts – and possibly death.

These odorless, tasteless drugs can be sprinkled into a woman's drink if she glances away for even a moment – or dripped from an eyedropper (even bartenders are often arrested).

• Don’t accept a drink from an open container or a stranger.
• Don’t leave your drink while dancing or playing pool.
• Don’t rely on a friend to watch your drink for you.
• Don’t think putting a napkin over your glass protects you from date rape drugs. Keep your glass in your hand at all times.

If you have any doubt, pour it out. And don't accept a cigarette – they, too, can be drugged.

Leigh thought her first date was going well with Jeffrey Marsalis, a trauma surgeon she’d met through Match.com. She drank a few beers. Then Marsalis ordered a carafe of wine, and Leigh excused herself. When she returned, her glass was waiting. Leigh took a sip. The next thing Leigh remembers Marsalis was raping her. Two days later, she found herself with him at a restaurant. “I wanted to confront him about what happened.” The last thing Leigh remembers, she was picking at the noodles when she blacked out. She woke up with Marsalis once again having sex with her inert body. ... Marsalis wasn’t a doctor. He was an unemployed paramedic and nursing-school dropout. Investigators discovered 21 women who claimed Marsalis drugged and raped them. The majority of the 10 women who testified against Marsalis had contact with him afterward. ... Women who have been sexually assaulted find many reasons not to call police, including denial, shame or their hazy grasp of the facts due to date rape drugs or alcohol, or mortified into silence by what they see as their complicity in their own attacks.
Excerpted from MSNBC.com – 21 November 2008

Natalee Holloway and Date Rape Drugs

Natalee Holloway Investigation Reopened
Hidden camera footage broadcast in the Netherlands showed Dutch student Joran Van der Sloot saying he was with Natalee Holloway when she collapsed on a beach in Aruba. He said he believed she was dead and asked a friend to dump her body in the sea. "She'll never be found," he said. Holloway, 18, vanished in May 2005. ... In the recordings, Van der Sloot said Holloway was drunk and that she began shaking and slumped down on the beach as the pair were making out. Suddenly she started shaking and then she didn't say anything. ... He said he panicked and tried but failed to revive her. He said that Holloway looked dead but that he could not be sure she was not still alive when the friend took her away. ... Holloway, of Mountain Brook AL, was last seen in public leaving a bar with Van der Sloot and two Surinamese brothers - Deepak and Satish Kalpoe - hours before she was due to go home.
Excerpted from TV’s America’s Most Wanted (amw.com) / Associated Press – 19 February 2008

Van der Sloot had probably spiked Natalee Holloway’s drink with one or more date rape drugs. That would explain why, when she “looked dead,” he wanted to dispose of her body rather than call for medical help – to hide his guilt.

While not “blaming the victim,” let’s learn lessons from the tragic loss of this precious young woman in order to help save other young women from date rape drugs. Ms. Holloway made a common mistake: drinking without a sober girlfriend nearby to protect her.

• Beware of guys drinking. Alcohol (especially) and drugs weakened 90 percent of women date rape victims. Eat plenty of food while limiting drinks to one or two per hour.
• Go to parties with girlfriends, watch out for each other, and leave together – not with a new beau. At least one of you should be the "Sober Sister" to safeguard the others.
• If you’re alone, don’t announce that you’re walking home. Have taxi money for a ride home. If you, your date, a girlfriend, or if you see any woman exhibit any of the above date rape drugs symptoms (or too much alcohol), get help immediately and call 911 for the police.

MORE Safety Tips for Women

For overall rape prevention strategies – both acquaintance and stranger – see Rape Escape Options - Overview and especially Ultimate Rape Prevention.

For convenience, learn self-defense ONLINE:

KRAV MAGA, a practical self-defense system used by many police forces worldwide, teaches you to defend yourself, enhances your survival instinct, and can be applied under extreme stress. It's not flashy, just very effective for women's safety. I highly recommend it. The Krav Maga TV - Online Training videos are especially convenient to learn at home when your schedule allows or if you don't live near a training center.

College Security
Go from Date Rape Drugs to Women Safety - Overview
Go to Crime-Safety-Security.com HOME PAGE