Minister pushing for law to criminalize drink spiking
A survey conducted by Beat Sexism suggests that one in three people in the Czech Republic have experienced drink spiking, 91 percent of them young women. Despite the prevalence of such incidents, drink spiking is still not defined as a criminal offence under Czech law. The minister for sport, prevention and health is now pushing to change that.
It’s been happening in bars, clubs, and at private parties for years – slipping alcohol or drugs in a person’s drink without their knowledge to make them vulnerable to sexual assault or theft. Young women are often warned to “watch their drinks” but little has been done in terms of prevention.
Beat Sexism, an international organisation based in Prague, which focuses on women's rights issues was the first to start collecting evidence about it.
According to the survey results 336 of 1041 respondents reported having had a personal experience of drink spiking. 91% percent of them were women. The findings were that people aged 19-24 have the highest frequency of experience of drink spiking, followed by the 16-18 age group.
Blerta Sejdija, founder of Beat Sexism, says the initiative was triggered by her own personal experience with drink spiking.
“I was at a birthday bash with several girlfriends when an unknown man approached us and repeatedly offered us drinks. Then I noticed him adding powder to some of the glasses before handing them over. So we made a fast exit.”
Shortly after, Blerta set up Beat Sexism and started spreading awareness of the problem. The survey they conducted was an eye opener and the group is now following it up with a bigger study based on in-depth interviews.
The problem is that while drink spiking is used to facilitate crimes like sexual assault, robbery, and physical violence, drink spiking alone is not a criminal offense under Czech law. Lucie Šmoldasová, spokesperson for the National Drug Headquarters explains.
“Currently, drink spiking has no specific legal classification. Police typically investigate such cases only in connection with other offences, such as rape, robbery or inflicting bodily harm, but also drug-related offences,” she said.
The police stress the importance of timely reporting and biological sampling. The substance most commonly involved—liquid ecstasy—can only be detected in tests within approximately 12 hours of ingestion. However, victims are often disoriented and suffer memory loss and many crimes linked to drink spiking are underreported.
Last October, Beat Sexism, the Department for Gender Equality at the Office of the Government and then government commissioner for human rights, Klára Šimáčková Laurenčíková, held a roundtable discussion focusing on prevention and awareness-raising of the phenomenon. The meeting, supported by the British Embassy in Prague, opened a dialogue between Czech and British experts and organizations on possible steps toward systemic protection against this hidden form of violence. Dawn Dines, founder of Stamp Out Spiking, presented the British model of prevention and education, which includes not only public awareness campaigns but also extensive training for frontline workers such as police officers, healthcare professionals, and security personnel.
Thanks to growing awareness of the problem, more Czech lawmakers are realizing the need to adopt legislation such as that which is now in force in the UK or France.
The Minister for Sport, Prevention and Health, Boris Šťastný (Motorists), said soon after taking office last December that he wants to propose a legislative amendment to make the act of drink spiking a criminal offense. According to him, the upper limit of the sentence for this crime should extend to several years in prison.
Not everyone is convinced. Some opposition MPs, among them Karel Haas (Civic Democrats), deputy chair of the Chamber of Deputies’ Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee, say that such situations can effectively be addressed under the current Criminal Code.
However, Minister Šťastný and MP Taťána Malá (ANO) are pushing ahead with the endeavour –finalizing the draft proposal which should be submitted as an amendment to the criminal code.
“We aim to present it as soon as possible and hope to have the prime minister’s support in this matter ” Malá said.
If all goes according to plan the draft could be ready by spring, or mid-year at the latest.
