The crusade to eradicate spiking

The true impact and scope of spiking – the act of putting alcohol or drugs in someone's drink without their knowledge – is unknown.

The offence often goes unreported because vulnerable and powerless victims are frequently not believed and, in some cases, blamed. When Spark scholar Elysia O’Neill (MA International Relations 2023) was first spiked in 2016, she came face-to-face with victim blaming.

“I was passing out and thankfully got picked up by my dad in the middle of town.

“Venues just tell you that you drank too much and that it's your fault. But I was hallucinating as well, and became really angry.”

The act of spiking continued to be ubiquitous for many young people – mostly women – going to bars and clubs. As most date rape drugs leave a person’s system within 12 hours of being administered it is hard to prove when a person has been spiked. But in 2021 the offence drew national attention as a new, even more predatory form of spiking began being reported: spiking by needle injection.

“It was scary for us, for me and my friend,” Elysia said.

“We’d both been spiked before. It was scary, but more importantly it was a wake-up call. Our whole lives we’d been warned to cover our glasses, not leave drinks unattended, and avoid strangers.

“But with needle spiking, that was all null and void. It smacked us in the face.”

This new form of spiking led Elysia and her friend Della Claydon (MA Global Development and International Political Economy 2022) to spring into action. The pair had founded a feminist blog called The Egalitarian during their time at Leeds. This became the platform for their crusade against spiking.

“In November 2021 we created the Spike Report to try and tackle the lack of data around spiking, and to empower victims to come forward and talk about their incidents. And it’s gone from there.

“We took a big turn and focused on nighttime economy safety. Given all the data we had and the number of victims who were telling us where, when and how spiking had occurred and how it make them feel." They also learned how inadequately the venues and police were responding.

“We then took it upon ourselves to lead the anti-spiking movement and start making real change with venues and student unions.”

The activist bloggers now wanted to develop a social enterprise that would advocate for changes in the law, amplify the voices of victims, and offer training to venues so the prevalence of spiking could be curbed.

In 2022 they applied for funding through the Spark programme and after a successful bid for £500 start up capital, the Safe Place Project was born.

“The funding was to cover the fact that we were going to need materials to train with. Printing off fact sheets, signage, maps, badges,” Elysia said.

“We got funded for all of the set-up costs of the Safe Place Project and also for us to be trained in nighttime economy safety.”

The project was developed to train venues to spot the signs of spiking, recommend policies for staff, and eventually providing certification to a venue or organisation.

After a further injection of £2,500 the Safe Place Project is now established, and offers training to venues, students unions, and even police forces.

On top of the initial start-up funding, the guidance and training given by the experts at Spark was invaluable to the Egalitarian.

“Brian and Kairen are our business parents,” Elysia joked. “They’re amazing in terms of emotional support, wellbeing, general and business support.

“We received help with our business plan from Spark’s advisors and we have quarterly meetings at Spark to assist us in our growth. We have also benefitted from accountancy and legal advice.

“We’re both not natural entrepreneurs, we’re natural activists. So we’ve had to make that change. That’s what Spark’s done really well. They’ve massively helped with this change.”