Part 3 | CRIME WRITER TURNED VICTIM AND SURVIVOR: Understanding Drug Facilitated Crimes
TW: Sexual Assault
If you’ve been affected by sexual assault and need help in any way, please contact the RAINN Sexual Assault National Hotline at 1–800–656–4673.
In an effort to bring awareness and understanding to what drug facilitated crime scenarios look like and the obstacles victims face, we must begin with ourselves. The law and societal biases won’t change unless we start here, one at a time, learning more and challenging our own thoughts and preconceived notions. With this article, my hope is that each of us will gain greater understanding, we’ll adapt, and that we can all work together to protect each other.
In my previous two articles, I unfolded what happened to me and the reality that I am not rich enough, famous enough, or dead enough for the Dallas Police and District Attorney’s office to care to simply follow their own protocols to investigate a crime with ample evidence. [1] This makes understanding these scenarios even more crucial, because we as women have learned, it is a grueling fight to get law enforcement to take these crimes seriously. But we can change society if we change our mindset.
Understanding what drug-facilitated sexual assault looks like.
“These crimes are rarely committed by a stranger. So, the typical “safety tips” people give can reinforce myths or stereotypes about sexual assault because they focus on things people can do to reduce their risk of being assaulted by a stranger and ignore the reality that most sexual assaults are committed by someone the person knows and trusts.” — Haleh Hekmat, Texas Alliance Against Sexual Assault. [2]
So this goes beyond the obvious, such as refusing to accept a drink from a stranger or leaving a glass unattended. I was surrounded by dozens of friends and acquaintances several of whom were former law enforcement, when a known colleague vetted by several publishing agencies offered to get a round of drinks for a few of us. I didn’t know until a witness came forward later that the suspect made a special trip to the bar to get just me a drink. He later waited everyone out and followed me to my room.
Consent cannot be given by individuals who are intoxicated or incapacitated by drugs or alcohol, or by someone who is unconscious. When we see someone who seems intoxicated, it’s easy to make assumptions that are not accurate. And because on the outside being drugged and being intoxicated can seem the same, taking steps to understand and intervene can be helpful. In fact, it could make all the difference.
What to know and how to intervene
1. Most drugs are tasteless, odorless, and colorless and can be quickly and easily added to a drink without the person’s knowledge. This means we need to pay attention to changes in behavior regardless of whether or not alcohol is involved.
Is your friend acting in any unusual way, such as confused, cross-eyed, enlarged pupils, or doing things they would be embarrassed about? One drug, scopolamine, is terrifyingly called the Zombie Drug or Devil’s Breath. It cancels out inhibitions. Not lowers: annihilates them, like the person is on auto-pilot. A friend of mine was out with her husband and close friend when her friend suddenly started to absurdly react to suggestions and feelings. She said she was hot and abruptly wanted to take her shirt off. In public. I now have several friends who have encountered this scenario — this is a career woman over forty, out with her friend at a classy restaurant bar in New York. Is your friend getting highly suggestable? These may be markers that someone put something in their drink.
2. Never assume a seemingly drunk person got that way themselves.
Especially if they are acting in a way you’ve never seen before, if you haven’t personally seen them over-imbibe, or if you’re at a professional place where there could be consequences. Even if someone is drunk and willingly got drunk, they can be a target of a predator, so regardless, keep an eye out for anyone looking to exploit the state they are in and don’t leave them alone.
3. Do not leave them alone and don’t assume they can get anywhere on their own even if they say they’re okay.
If someone has been drugged, in the moment THEY PROBABLY WON’T REALIZE THEY’VE BEEN DRUGGED. So if you ask a person if they’re okay, remember they are answering not only through a possible haze of drugs but also through the lens of what they think they consumed / what they understand to be true.
If it seems strange, assume the worst and take care of them.
- Get a couple friends to help you. I was asked at different moments by a few friends if I was okay or if I needed help. But I don’t remember — and I knew I hadn’t had enough to be drunk at all, so everything I can remember was confusing and I had assured them I was okay. But I was not. And I was followed.
- Enlist the friend of the person you’re concerned about. “Your friend looks like they’ve had a lot to drink. Can you check on them?”
- Make your concerns known to someone who is responsible for safety: a bartender, bouncer, or security guard. This not only helps you have additional support in keeping someone safe, but also incorporates witnesses that may be able to help if a crime still occurs.
4. The drugs are meant to disturb cognitive function but not always physical function.
So don’t assume they can get to their room if they’re not struggling physically. Many drugs are designed to keep you on your feet. Criminals want things to be easy. They don’t want attention to be drawn to them. And nothing signals alarm to people who could help more than a body being carried off.
You may be thinking that it’s ridiculous to state this because it’s so obvious. However, the Dallas police told me that since there wasn’t evidence that I had been “carried off unconscious like a sack of potatoes,” it implies my consent / that drugs weren’t used. Which is total bullshit. Not only in theory but also because they never bothered to actually look at all the available surveillance footage to see if in fact I had been carried away like said potatoes, but they guessed this by their own psychic abilities I presume. This is so ludicrous, that I couldn’t write it in my fiction novels because it’s so stupidly unbelievable. But I assure you, in Dallas, Texas this is how it worked.
5. Symptoms of drug facilitated crime drugs may be:
- A severe metallic taste in your mouth that you can’t get rid of with any remedy, major confusion, out-of-body feelings, disassociation, loss of time, massive dry mouth like you threw up for hours but there are no signs of acidic throat or symptoms of having thrown up.
- The most diabolical one: extreme fogginess or memory loss yet you could physically function. There have been many cases of women who’ve been able to even drive under the influence of these drugs, or a friend of mine (I now know three men over 40 who’ve had similar experiences at work functions) who was at a work conference and at the end packed, got himself to the airport, checked in for his flight…and had no idea how he did all that because he suddenly “woke up” at the airport.
As I stated at the top, if you’ve been affected by situations like this, you are not alone. And it is NOT YOUR FAULT. Whether or not we are able to change the outcome by recognizing these signs and stepping in, we are helping to change the way people think about their role in preventing sexual assault. Together, we can make our conferences safer. We can bring understanding and compassion to societal biases that — if left unchecked — not only allow predators to succeed, but embolden them to escalate.
Let’s change that.
**Most people who commit sexual assault are serial offenders. If you’ve been affected by the above, specifically at or around Bouchercon 2019 in Dallas, TX, you are not alone. If you are interested in going on the record or sharing your experience, please email me if you’re in my circles.
Or if you want more information about your options or want to be connected to resources near you, you can contact Haleh Hekmat with TAASA at hhekmat@taasa.org (please note this email is not monitored 24/7).
For immediate crisis support and assistance locating a center near you please contact the RAINN Sexual Assault National Hotline at 1–800–656–4673.
CALLS TO ACTION
Sign the Petition:
To help make more changes in this system in Dallas, TX: Please click here >> to sign the Change.org petition
Email Dallas Officials:
I am asking members of the community to join me in urging the District Attorney’s Office and the Dallas Country Commissioner’s Court to take sexual assault cases more seriously. Please contact the following to let them know that you support these changes:
Dallas District Attorney Community Relations Phone: (214) 653–3600
DallasDAPress@dallascounty.org
Dallas County Commissioner’s Court — Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins
Phone: (214) 653–7949
E-mail: dcjudge@dallascounty.org
Dallas County Commissioner — Dr. Elba Garcia
Chair of Criminal Justice Advisory Board
Elba.GarciaDDS@dallascounty.org
Click HERE to auto-fill the above email addresses
_________________
A sample of what could be included in your emails and phone calls:
Dear Dallas Officials,
I am writing to you today to express my deep concern about the way that sexual assault cases are being handled in our community. The way cases are currently being handled sends the message to our community that victims of sexual assault don’t matter and that offenders will not be held accountable.
I believe that the DA’s office has a responsibility to do everything in its power to hold perpetrators accountable and to support victims.
I am particularly troubled by the following:
- The lack of systems and processes in place to ensure each sexual assault case is thoroughly investigated.
- The lack of awareness and commitment to victim’s constitutional rights-including the right to be treated with dignity and respect for privacy.
- The low number of sexual assault cases that are actually prosecuted.
- The low conviction rates for sexual assault cases that do go to trial.
- The lack of resources available to sexual assault survivors.
I believe that these problems are due to a lack of commitment from the District Attorney’s Office to take sexual assault cases seriously. I urge you to take immediate action to address these issues and to send a clear message that sexual assault will not be tolerated in our community.
______________________________________
[1] Article 1: https://medium.com/@lachandlar/crime-writer-turned-victim-and-survivor-f1412e1b16a
[2] 8 out of 10 assaults are committed by predators known to the victim [2], and they take advantage of that very fact to facilitate the crime. https://www.rainn.org/statistics/perpetrators-sexual-violence#:~:text=Perpetrators%20of%20Sexual%20Violence%20Often%20Know%20the%20Victim&text=59%25%20were%20acquaintances,were%20strangers%20to%20the%20victim