RT Journal Article
T1 Increasing awareness of the severity of female victimization by opportunistic drug-facilitated sexual assault: A new viewpoint
A1 Prego Meleiro, Pablo
A1 Quintela Jorge, Óscar
A1 Montalvo, Gemma
A1 García-Ruiz, Carmen
AB The victimization of women by opportunistic drug-facilitated sexual assault in leisure contexts was studied in this work by applying a novel approximation. A multifocal analytical strategy based on an intersectional gender-sensitive approach was used to analyse the evidence coming from both forensic case studies and contextual studies about sexual interrelation and drug use. The process of victimization comprises social changes affecting consumption patterns and sexual interaction, intersecting in the hegemonic recreational nightlife model. However, victims experience a range of situations that make it difficult for them to self-acknowledge themselves as such. Widespread myths about the victimization process add to the social questioning faced by victims, stemming from gender-based double standards which condition the expected female behaviors regarding the use of drugs and sexual interaction. The victims usually experience amnesia, lack of injuries and emotional harm, which make difficult the selfacknowledgement as a victim of sexual assault and the reporting of the episode suffered. Consequently, it is an urgent public health need to implement a new viewpoint about the victimization of women by opportunistic drug-facilitated sexual assault in leisure contexts, able to increase awareness of the severity of this form of sexual violence. Society must recognize the existence of this problem within itself to help victims to acknowledge themselves as such, lodge a complaint and seek adequate help. this social support feeds the perpetuation of the victimization process, which exacerbates the risk oflocking victims into spirals of cyclical re-victimization and favors both the underreporting as well asinadequate coping strategies. In addition to focusing on the need to increase awareness of the severity offemale victimization by opportunistic drug-facilitated sexual assault in leisure contexts, otherrecommendations include the use of the term “take advantage”, the development of specific criminalapproaches, and the in-depth knowledge of the phenomenon via victimization surveys. These steps arenecessary for developing well-targeted and evidence-based preventive measures consistent-with-reality.
PB Elsevier
YR 2020
FD 2020
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/117131
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/117131
LA eng
NO Prego-Meleiro, Pablo, et al. «Increasing Awareness of the Severity of Female Victimization by Opportunistic Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault: A New Viewpoint». Forensic Science International, vol. 315, octubre de 2020, p. 110460. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2020.110460
NO Ministerio de sanidad, servicios sociales e igualdad (España)
NO Universidad de Alcalá de Henares
NO Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Ciencias Policiales (España)
DS Docta Complutense
RD 6 abr 2025