Sarah Williams is raising awareness of needle and drink spiking through her not-for-profit What Were You Wearing Australia (WWYWA).
While most people have heard of drink-spiking, over the past few years there’s been a rise in the incidence of ‘needle spiking’.
The practice, already common in Europe, involves perpetrators using hypodermic needles to inject sedatives into their victims for them to be taken advantage of later.
Sarah Williams founded What Were You Wearing Australia (WWYWA), a not-for-profit that aims to end sexual violence through advocacy, awareness and education. The organisation, mainly run by younger survivors, uses their large social media following to spread their message and share stories to raise awareness.
This week, Ms Williams came to Canberra to meet politicians to discuss amending the Territory’s Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) training so there are dedicated sections on drink/needle-spiking and sexual violence.
Her organisation has campaigned for similar reforms over the last few months in NSW.
One survivor Ms Williams met from the ACT, who wishes to remain anonymous, says he was attacked in December last year while out in the city with a few of his mates and their girlfriends.
“We were at this popular club for about an hour. I was wearing shorts and when I went to the bathroom and looked down, I noticed a needle prick just above my knee,” he said.
“At the time, I was quite confused and, to be honest, needle spiking didn’t really come to mind, so I pushed it off, but within five minutes of leaving the bathroom, my speech became very slurred and I started stumbling.
“Soon enough, I could barely walk, which was strange after only having two drinks.”
It was at this point the venue’s security asked him to leave as they thought he was intoxicated.
Fortunately, two of his friends went with him and sat him down. It was the last thing he remembered from the night before they took him home.
The following morning, he said he woke up and immediately started vomiting.
“I was pretty much in bed for the next two days with extreme nausea and headaches. In the week after, I just remember feeling completely drained.
“I’d never experienced any ‘hangover’ like that before, let alone from having just two standard [drinks].”
Ms Williams said stories like this have been told for decades about drink spiking, but needle spike attacks are becoming more common since the end of the lockdown due to the larger number of people going out who haven’t experienced nightlife before.
After speaking with Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury and three Greens MLAs on Tuesday (20 June), she said they are not only considering amendments to the ACT’s RSA training but also commissioning studies on the subject.
The lack of research on needle spike attacks is credited to the difficulty in identifying that a crime has been committed and then securing convictions.
ACT Policing told Region they are not currently investigating any recent incidents of needle spiking and are not aware of any reports being made to them.
Ms Williams said this is because the symptoms are very similar to intoxication, so attacks are often disregarded by venue staff or police when reported and can be misidentified by targets.
The issue is compounded by the failure of many venues to have functional security cameras, which could capture the crime.
Even with footage, though, Ms Williams says, “When you’re in a dark nightclub with lights flashing and everybody dancing around you, how could you tell if someone just slipped a needle into you?
“All you’d probably feel is a bump, and the only evidence would be a small bruise with a dot on it.”
She recommends people stay close to trusted friends when going out and report attacks to bar staff and venue management as soon as they have moved to a safe space.
She adds that venues should have a sexual assault and prevention policy procedure so staff know what to do in the case of an emergency, along with a reporting template ready to capture all the information necessary after an attack.
Loading ...
