You may have seen in the news this week the Prime Minister’s intention to make spiking drinks a standalone criminal offence. The county’s Interim Chief Constable Maggie Blyth, who is also the national police lead in tackling Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) has been instrumental on policy making around this issue and was alongside the PM (pictured) when the decision was announced.

Credit Daily Telegraph Mina Kim

Beefing-up legislation around spiking, which I am in favour of, is part of the Government’s wider strategy of halving VAWG in a decade and has been spoken about for a while. It is also part of the ‘16 Days of Action’ against gender-based violence, a period which started on 25 November and runs until 10 December, when individuals, organisations, and communities come together to advocate for a world free from domestic violence.

 

In Gloucestershire, my office and the Constabulary work closely with the county council and organisations like the Gloucestershire Domestic Abuse Support Service (GDASS) to ensure people understand how victims can be supported by family and friends; spotting signs of abuse, recognising the signs of perpetrator behaviour and understanding what action they can take.

 

Of course, spiking is not exclusive to gender, but it is one of the many threats women face on an almost daily basis, especially on a night out. It can have a significant, traumatic impact on victims fuelling concerns around safety in the night-time economy, which is why the Constabulary has been working with partners to stop it from happening. Targeting operations in our busiest urban centres and liaising with organisations, such as universities, pubs and clubs to raise awareness of the symptoms of spiking.  Indeed, during the national spiking police week of action earlier in the year, forces collectively visited over 1900 licensed venues to ensure that staff understood how to support victims.

Confronting what is predominantly male violence against women and girls, nurtured, I believe, by an undercurrent of misogyny in our culture, was a priority of my first Police and Crime Prevention Plan and it will also feature in my second. I hope that the policing response to protecting women and girls in the night-time economy shows how committed we are to making our streets safe and them feel safer.

I would encourage anyone who is a victim of spiking to report it to the police. I promise you will be listened to, and you will be taken seriously.