2.5.1.3 Context of Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault

The context of drug-facilitated sexual assault can include some consensual behavior.

For example, a survivor may say, ‘I want to go outside because it’s hot in here’ or ‘We can’t hear each other talking’.

The perpetrator, with criminal intent, will use this as an opportunity to suggest leaving the area.

Friends may see the survivor choosing to do something unsafe, for example, driving while drunk. They may see the survivor doing something that they would not do while sober.

If friends are not educated about sexual assault, they may not be able to recognize the warning signs of the situation.

For example, friends may see the survivor leaving with someone they find unusual. They may find the situation funny or not see any reason to be concerned.

Another example of some consensual behavior that may occur in the context of drug-facilitated sexual assault is sexual activity at any level.

The survivor may be unable to participate because of their intoxication level or they may vomit. Someone who is intoxicated at this level is unable to give consent.

After the event or in the morning, the survivor may be confused about how the event ended. They may remember being so intoxicated that they were unable to participate in sexual activity.

Perhaps they had expected the event to be romantic, but after some time has passed, the survivor sees the event much differently. They may not remember large pieces of the event, and they may feel regrets.

There is no legal limit that makes someone too intoxicated to give consent to sexual activity.

To determine if someone could give consent, we need to look at each individual situation and see what occurred in its context.

With drug-facilitated sexual assault, we identify a way in which the perpetrator manipulated the situation to their advantage in order to have power and control.

Perpetrators use isolation to get someone alone and away from their support network so that they can manipulate and take advantage of them.

They often manipulate what is socially acceptable to make their behavior seem normal, for example, offering to buy alcoholic drinks or pressuring someone to go someplace private where they can be alone.

For example, the perpetrator can often self-present as a kind and caring person or even a hero by offering to walk someone home or take care of them at a party.

The issue is that the assault is premeditated and that the survivor is targeted by the perpetrator.

Often, perpetrators of sexual assault have a sense of entitlement, a sense that they can have sex with whomever they want. They may also have violent or sexual trauma in their background and a lack of self-control. Perpetrators often distort reality and tell themselves that the survivor was inviting their attention and the assault.

After the assault, the perpetrator will likely use justification to deny that what happened was sexual assault. They may allude to false beliefs about sexual assault in order to try to blame the survivor.

The responsibility for sexual assault always rests with the perpetrator.

No matter what risky behavior a survivor participates in, it’s always the perpetrator who decides to commit sexual assault.