Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Drug Facilitated Rape, Robbery, Assault

Over the past several years, there has been a steady increase in the number of rapes reported where it appears drugs of some sort were used to facilitate the rape.

Since so many rapes go unreported
 (according to the FBI, hospitals, families, etc)
and since drugs disappear quickly from  the human system, these sorts of statistics are difficult to compile. I have several films on the topic; you can view them here at the office. One film on the issue of drugging documents how some criminals film their crimes. That is, they will drug a victim, then film the scene to show how burning her with cigarettes, slapping her, etc. will not produce the pain response. In general, filming a victim during a sexual assault (who is drugged) can serve several purposes.

painting info HERE
They are sold to other criminals.
Just as men who view porn want new stimuli or those who view horror stimuli for excitation need new material to reach the desired effect, those men who need to increase their sense of worth and power through degrading or overpowering others can get some of the effect by viewing a film with a "fresh" victim.
They are posted online for both money and "prestige."
Many "collectors" are proud of their library of crimes. See what happens if you google the term, "watch live rape" or "live rape video"-- you will see that there are millions-- Millions- of choices.
These films are also used to show that the victim is not complaining or even grimacing during the sexual assault, thus "proving" that a rape is not occurring. Prosecutors are finding that many rape drugs are being MIXED with drugs of euphoria, such as ecstacy or heroin, resulting in the victim being unable to control her actions or even being aware of herself, (that is, being in a state of blackout) and appearing as if she is in a state of bliss.
One prosecutor tells the case of how (in preparing for a "party") water bottles were dosed with a drug, then sealed up again with a drop of glue to maintain the appearance of a safe drink.
One particularly bothersome story for me is the case of a young woman with friends who was at an outdoor concert. A friend of one of her friends stumbled into her, knocking her beer out of her hand and onto the ground. He was holding a bottle of ice cold beer, opened, and in the other hand was a can opener. He giggled and slurred to her, "here, you take mine, I'll go get 'nother one."
 He still had the can opener in his hand, "clearly" he had JUST opened the bottle in his hand, right?
After a few minutes she became sick, then went to the camper to lie down. After a bit, the male acquaintence was missed, and the men asked, where was B--?? Someone said, "he went to the camper to take a whizz." But-- Apparently-- men do not generally go inside to urinate while at an outdoor concert. The friends became suspicious, went to the camper, and found him assaulting the woman and called the police.

The drugs are now being used for other vile purposes, such as robbery. Bartenders or others who have access to food and drink can easily dose a person, then watch for the signs of illness and offer "assistance". I will not go into great detail here, but do hope you will educate yourself:
go here  http://www.k-state.edu/womenscenter/ and click on the emergency link or the advocacy/violence link to learn more.
Of course, many want to know how a person can be so pathetic as to want to assault a [basically] comatose person. Learn about the socioopathic personality to begin to understand-- here is part seven of a continuing post abou this. http://marysbeagooddogblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/sociopath-among-us-part-7-nnsd.html
and i am intending to begin Profiling the various types of rapists in the near future.
Sorry to totally harsh your mellow.
I would be remiss not to warn you from time to time--
It is a terrible thing to see a friend under the influence of a drug, hoping they will recover and regain the personality of the person you knew.
I have previously published some posts about this but hope to begin posting some specific reserach in this area soon.
here is one article from a decade ago, which started me thinking:

Date Rape Drug Suspected in Party Death of 15-year-old Girl


January 18, 1999   By The Associated Press

GROSSE ILE, Mich. (AP) -- A 15-year-old girl died after drinking alcohol that police believe was laced with a date rape drug.  Police Chief William Barron said the girl and two others went with three boys to an apartment complex Saturday night. Barron said two of the girls had drinks, and soon after, the 15-year-old started vomiting.
She died Sunday.

Her name was not released. The other girl, who turns 15 on Tuesday, was in stable condition Monday.
An autopsy was being performed on the 15-year-old.
Barron said investigators believe the girls' drinks had been laced with gamma-hydroxybutyrate, or GHB, which is known as a date rape drug because it has been used to render women helpless against sexual advances.
It can cause euphoria and, in higher doses, breathing problems, seizures, coma and death. In 1997, the Food and Drug Administration blamed GHB for at least three deaths.
Police were questioning one of the girls' companions.

Here is a summary of one study: i have only read this summary and not the paper. i am posting it to give an indication of research topics. (one conclusion is that voluntary drug use puts one at higher risk for being targeted for sexual assault.)

Estimate of the Incidence of Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault in the U.S.

http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/212000.pdf
Release date: May-2006

Most sexual assaults drug facilitated, UIC study claims

Almost 62 percent of sexual assaults were found to be drug facilitated, and almost 5 percent of the victims were given classic 'date-rape' drugs, according to a new study at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
An estimated 100,000 sexual assaults are committed in the United States each year, and the FBI says that number could be three times higher if all cases were reported, said Adam Negrusz, associate professor of
forensic sciences in the UIC College of Pharmacy.
Negrusz, lead author of the study titled "Estimate of the Incidence of Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault in the U.S.," said individuals who use drugs, with or without alcohol, are thought to be at a significantly
higher risk for sexual assault. "In some cases the substances are taken voluntarily by the victims, impairing their ability to make decisions," Negrusz said. "In other cases the substances are given to the victims without their knowledge, which may decrease their ability to identify a dangerous situation or to resist the perpetrator."

In about 80 percent of the cases the victim knows the assailant, he said, "while only 20 percent of sexual assaults are opportunistic." The study, funded by the National Institute of Justice, can be accessed via the National Criminal Justice Reference Service at www.ncjrs.gov   
The study collected data from 144 subjects who sought help in clinics located in Texas, California, Minnesota and Washington state. The subjects were from all ethnic backgrounds and ranged in age from 18 to 56, with a mean age of 26.6.
Each clinic was provided with sexual assault kits and asked to enroll willing sexual assault complainants. Subjects provided two urine samples and a hair specimen and completed a questionnaire that asked them to
describe the assault and any drugs they were using. "The urine and hair specimens were analyzed for about 45 drugs that have either been detected in sexual assault victims or whose pharmacology could be exploited for drug-facilitated sexual assaults," Negrusz said.
Two types of drug-facilitated sexual assault were identified: presumed
surreptitious drugging, or willful drug use by the subject.
According to Negrusz, 61.8 percent of the subjects were found to have at least one of the 45 analyzed drugs in their system; 4.9 percent tested positive for the classic date-rape drugs, and 4.2 percent of the
subjects had been drugged without their knowledge.
Four of the unwittingly-drugged victims, Negrusz said, tested positive
for Rohypnol, a tranquilizer 10 times more potent than Valium that has
been banned in the United States.
When the subject's voluntary drug use was queried, 35.4 percent were likely to have been impaired at the time of the sexual assault.

Robert Gaensslen, professor and head of the UIC forensic science program, and Matthew Juhascik, who received his doctoral degree in biopharmaceutical sciences from UIC, assisted with the study. 
UIC ranks among the nation's top 50 universities in federal research funding and is Chicago's largest university with 25,000 students, 12,000 faculty and staff, 15 colleges and the state's major public medical
center.

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