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Factors associated with suspected drug-facilitated sexual assault

From the Women's College Research Institute (Du Mont, Rotbard, Asllani, Cohen), Women's College Hospital, Toronto, Ont.; the Department of Public Health Sciences (Du Mont) and the Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (Cohen), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; the Ontario Network of Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Treatment Centres (Macdonald, Bainbridge), Toronto, Ont.; and the Mailman School of Public Health (Rotbard), Columbia University, New York, USA

Correspondence to: Dr. Janice Du Mont, Women's College Research Institute, 790 Bay St., 7th Floor, Toronto ON M5G 1N8; fax 416 351-3746; janice.dumont{at}wchospital.ca

Background: There has been little systematic investigation of widespread reports of drugging and sexual assault. We sought to determine the prevalence of and factors associated with suspected drug-facilitated sexual assault.

Methods: Between June 2005 and March 2007, a total of 977 consecutive sexual assault victims underwent screening for suspected drugging at 7 hospital-based sexual assault treatment centres. We defined victims of drug-facilitated sexual assault as those who presented to a centre within about 72 hours of being assaulted and who provided at least 1 valid reason for suspecting that she or he had been drugged and sexually assaulted. We used logistic regression modelling to compare victims of suspected drug-facilitated sexual assault with other sexual assault victims, controlling for covariates.

Results: In total, 882 victims were eligible for inclusion in the study. Of these, 855 (96.9%) were women, and 184 (20.9%) met the criteria for suspected drug-facilitated sexual assault. Compared with other victims, victims of drug-facilitated sexual assault were more likely to have presented to a large urban centre for care (odds ratio [OR] 2.31, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.47–3.65), to be employed (OR 1.92, 95% CI 1.34–2.76), to have consumed over-the-counter medications (OR 3.97, 95% CI 2.47–6.38) and street drugs (OR 1.71, 95% CI 1.12–2.62) in the 72 hours before being examined and to have used alcohol before the assault (OR 4.00, 95% CI 2.53–6.32).

Interpretation: Suspected drug-facilitated sexual assault is a common problem. Sexual assault services should be tailored to meet the needs of those experiencing this type of victimization.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. Butler and J. Welch Drug-facilitated sexual assault Can. Med. Assoc. J., March 3, 2009; 180(5): 493 - 494. [Full Text] [PDF]

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