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Magazine
SOCIAL TRENDS
Hit in the dark
SARAH JOHN
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It is natural for young people to have night-outs and parties. But if there are gaping holes in your memory the day after, beware, there may be something more than alcohol involved.
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Photo: K.K. Mustafah
Beware the stranger in a strange place: With inevitable lifestyles changes comes the need to be careful.
A German NGO with a helpline for women traumatised by sexual violence or rape recently reported the case of a woman who came to their counselling centre with a disturbing story.
She was in a bar one evening, having a drink. At one point she felt ill and even threw up. After that she felt dizzy. A stranger who was sitting nearby offered to take her outside to get some fresh air. When she came to hours later, she found herself in her own flat, unhurt, but with the horrible feeling that sexual intercourse had taken place. She could not recall anything, and she was clueless about how she got back home.
Alarming trend
The German press and media have been ringing alarm bells regarding alcohol abuse, especially among the young-to-very-young. Actions have been taken by several State governments to control and to prevent this. Clamping fines on parents of young persons who need to be taken to hospital or escorted back home by the police is the latest in a chain reaction.
In Germany, they are called the “fun generation”. All-night parties and alcohol-consumption are as common as school and home-work, and the police and emergency services are straining to cope with night-calls, especially at weekends and on festival days. It gets especially alarming when sexual violence gets mixed into the brew. But, of late, the situation appears to be getting worse with a new trend that is apparently gaining ground.
Not just alcohol
The German Physicians’ Weekly, in a recent issue, discussed new trends in the “night-life” scene, with alarming medical implications. The number of young people who, after a “night out”, end up in hospital ER (emergency room) has increased many folds, and the causes are, for the most part, alcohol-related. However, doctors have been taking several suspicious cases under scrutiny, and have been able to establish the involvement of something more than alcohol in many cases — especially those affecting young women, but also some young men.
Many of these cases suggested suspicion of sexual activity, usually without consent, under the influence of drugs. The substances involuntarily consumed ranged from highly potent sedatives like barbiturates or benzodiazepines to Liquid Ecstasy.
Availability of these substances in potent liquid form has made their dispensation easier. In an unobserved moment, a stranger can mix a few drops of these potent drugs into a glass. The unsuspecting victim continues to drink from the same glass. Before long, the drug begins to take effect: The victim may feel nauseated and sick or even elated or sexually aroused, depending on which drug and what dosage. In some cases, the victim passes out. The stranger steps in to help and they leave the bar or party together. In most cases, the “helpful” stranger manages to rob or to engage in sexual activity with the unconscious victim, with the minimum resistance. The disturbing fact is that by the time the effect of the drug wears down and the victim wakes up, the worst is over, but the memory of what happened is also vague.
Liquid Ecstasy is a colourless, tasteless, water-like liquid, easy to mix in any drink. However, mixed with alcohol, this could turn dangerous, even fatal, depending on the dosage. Side-effects are vomiting and headache, which may be mistakenly attributed to excessive alcohol-consumption.
The drug comes into effect 15 minutes after consumption, and the effect can last for up to three hours. After about eight hours, no traces of it may be found in the body to prove the initial consumption. If a victim is lucky enough to get medical attention during this short period, a specific blood/urine analysis can prove the existence of the drug in the system. In special circumstances, hair-samples have been analysed multiple times to prove the consumption of Ecstasy. For the ill-fated victim, whether young or old, male or female, their inability to remember, coupled with the intoxicated behaviour at the time, reduces the chance of others taking their situation seriously. This unfortunate phenomenon encourages criminals to engage in dubious activities using unsuspecting, often innocent, victims, some of whom may end up getting blackmailed and in psychological trauma.
Need to be alert
Summing up their report, the Physicians’ Weekly gives precise suggestions in handling suspicious cases upon arrival in hospitals, so that the investigations go beyond the testing of blood for alcohol. Detailed information collected professionally by the police and by the medical profession is made public in the German media, so that there is increased awareness.
Young people will continue to attend parties, they will continue to have their nights out, but they would do well to be alert against getting trapped by miscreants. In India, where women are not protected against physical, sexual or psychological violence, where the dignity of women is always being put to test, women, and especially young girls, have to take all necessary precautions to protect themselves. The law fails to protect them because those in politics and power manage to block the process of justice and thus neutralise every law of the land.
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