Why 'I May Destroy You' Is The Most Accurate Portrayal of Drink Spiking Culture: A Tale From a Victim.
“After Michela Coel’s latest cultural masterpiece, I May Destroy You, drink spiking and its life altering effects on female victims has been deservedly spotlighted for the horror it reeks on the lives of victims.
The series begins with a fateful night, one which so many women have faced. After a night out with friends, Arabella (Michela Coel) finds herself sat at her desk, unable to remember the previous night’s events, expect for a stark discomfort, and the face of her assaulter hovering above her.
Text messages and hazily remembered locations become secret clues, with Arabella re-cast as a personal detective for her own trauma, as her drink spiking begins to warp the edges of her existence.
This aspect of the show feels particularly brutal yet is something which remains starkly familiar to my own assault. I’d just turned 18 and wanted any excuse for a night out to use my newfound freedom. Little did I expect to end up in A&E after collapsing on the floor of a bar, after my drink was spiked by a mutual friend. The next day, I too was forced into this role of detective, ruthlessly questioning bar staff, and revisiting text messages over and over, figuring out where I went and who I was with.
As lockdown restrictions are eased, and the masses return to local nightlife, the threat of drink spiking still remains, with bars and clubs seemingly lacking an awareness of its severity. Unlike university campuses and workplaces in the post #MeToo era, the clear-eyed awareness around the potential for sexual assault is yet to trickle down to the drinking culture.
“In many ways, the show has changed my life – seeing someone else going through a similar experience, and still being able to survive and document this struggle in a meaningful way, was a deeply forceful sentiment. ”
In 2018, data suggested that in the three years prior, cases of drink spiking had more than doubled, increasing by 108%, with the majority of victims being female. However, due to the nature of shaming which comes with this type of assault, many incidents go unreported, with many victims, myself included, being shamed for ‘carelessness’.
The impacts of drink spiking can have significant repercussions, both mentally and physically. Due to the amateur nature of spiking, some victims have experienced significant damage to their health: A victim of drink spiking, Greg Mackie, died after he was spiked with the equivalent of six ecstasy tablets.
Mentally, victims of spiking often find it difficult to feel safe, with many experiencing significant changes to their attitudes towards drinking socially. After my experiences, I quickly removed myself from drinking culture, refusing alcohol for months on end, with shame often clouding any socialising after the spiking.
Ultimately, more legislation needs to be created, not only for the protection of victims in the aftermath, but also for prevention. There needs to be an awareness in the hospitality sector, both within the frontline staff, and within directors and managers of establishments. One of the major issues of drink spiking is the rapidity with which substances disappear within drinks; a way of alleviating this issue is the use of testing kits, and having staff trained in how to use the kits. This is an idea which has been lobbied for some time, however, the Government is yet to pick up on this as mandatory legislation for the hospitality sector.
That being said, with the renewed awareness that Coel’s show has provided for victims, it feels for many that the pain of assault has come full circle. In many ways, the show has changed my life – seeing someone else going through a similar experience, and still being able to survive and document this struggle in a meaningful way, was a deeply forceful sentiment.
Ultimately, it is by telling these stories and sharing in our experiences that progress can be made. By having the public discourse around shows such as I May Destroy You, we are forcing the issue into the public spotlight, in a way that cannot be ignored.”
If you are a victim of drink spiking, help is available, both in reporting the incident, and in coping with your feelings after the assault. For more information, you can visit the NHS help page, or call the 24-hour freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge, on 0808 2000 247.
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Thank you so much to the wonderful Hope for contributing such an informative and beautifully articulated piece! To read more from her you can find her at hopetalbot.journoportfolio.com or on Twitter at @HopeTalbot2.