UK to make chemical submission a crime. Chemical submission, spiking in English, consists of making someone ingest alcohol, medicines or drugs without their knowledge. For example, pouring drugs into a woman’s drink at a party to sexually assault her. The British government has just unveiled its judicial reform plan.
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With our correspondent in London, Émeline Vin
In 2023, 7,000 cases of chemical submission were reported to the United Kingdom. A figure probably below reality. This chemical submission is called spiking in English. The Labor Party had promised to make it a specific criminal offence.
The Prime Minister Keir Starmer met this Monday, November 25 with police commissioners and representatives of the pub and bar sector. “ We are going to do spiking a specific crime, so that it counts, so that it is reported, so that victims have more confidence to file a complaint and so that attackers know that they face specific prosecutions “, he said.
An offense already punishable by law
If the act of drugging someone without their knowledge is already punishable by law, it is a “transversal” offense – which falls under several laws, for example, it is an aggravating circumstance for rape. The bill will not be presented until early 2025 and for the moment, no details on the penalties incurred.
Jess Philips, Secretary of State for Violence Against Women, hopes to send a signal: “ Regardless of the prison sentence, what I want is for women to feel safe when they go out. What matters is a better response from the police and better detection of these incidents “.
The act of creating this offense must “encourage victims to come forward, and ensure a strong police response to these appalling crimes “, said Interior Minister Yvette Cooper. The Labor government, which came to power in July, promised to halve violence against women and girls within ten years.
At the same time, the government will pilot the training of 10,000 pub employees to identify spiking and better care for victims.
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