By Bryon Wells
Arizona Daily Wildcat
April 28, 1998

Sexual assault must be reported, officials say

Although new drugs have recently proved to be an effective weapon in a rapist's arsenal, not reporting a sexual assault is the greatest advantage victims can give their attackers, officials said.

Sara Kramer, of the University of Arizona's Oasis Center for Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence, said the center has received a "handful" of reports from female students who suspected they had been slipped a date rape drug within the last year.

Kramer said it is often difficult to prove the substances had been used because women either wait too long to report an incident or decline to take necessary tests to prove it.

"People would rather like to think that that has not happened," she said.

But the solution is clear, according to Kramer.

"Watch each other's backs," she said.

Besides suggesting the "buddy" system when partying, Kramer insists on reminding women to be aware of their surroundings at all times.

Keep an eye on who is pouring your drinks, don't accept open containers, and bring your own alcohol to the place where you're going to indulge, she said.

University Police Chief Harry Hueston said leaving drinks around to be tampered with is an "easy way to be sexually assaulted," but cooperating with officers and medical examiners after an attack will provide greater evidence to prosecute the crime.

And at a party where young people are drinking copious amounts of alcohol and may not be used to the effects, somebody who has been slipped a "mickey" may appear to be just another party casualty.

"Sometimes it's hard to know that a drug was used because the symptoms are the same for someone who has just drank too much," Kramer said.

After a party sponsored by the Alpha Phi sorority April 17, a 19-year-old UA student woke up in her room the next day to a university police officer and emergency medical technicians. Authorities had been called because she was drunk and unconscious.

According to university police reports, the student said she had gone to the party at the Wild Horse Ranch, 6801 N. Camino Verde, with a man she had not been out with before.

The student told police she had had three vodka-cranberry drinks, then "blacked out." She was later told that she was carried from the party and driven home by her date and another man, police reports stated.

The student said she remembered regaining consciousness in her dorm when the officer awoke her.

She later told police she thought somebody may have slipped something in her drink, but did not believe anything more had happened because there were no physical signs of assault.

The student said through an acquaintance yesterday that she did not want to comment about the incident, and Alpha Phi officers refused comment about the organization's policies promoting awareness of such dangers.

The Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority held a spring formal celebration at the ranch April 18 that had no affiliation with Alpha Phi's function. Marci Dobrow, chapter president of Alpha Epsilon Phi, said her organization does warn its members about the dangers of date rape drugs.

"We all know the relevance of it, especially on campus," she said.

Dobrow added that her sorority participates in workshops about the dangers of the drugs and "anything that can happen on a college campus."

Rohypnol, or "roofies," and gamma-hydroxybutyrate, or GHB, are more frequently being used to knock out a victim because of their relative cheapness and availability, said Nora Gilray, from the Tucson Rape Crisis center.

Rohypnol can be smuggled into the United States from Mexico, where it is legally sold, and there are recipes on the World Wide Web on how to make a batch of GHB, a synthetic drug that acts as a depressant, Gilray said.

Best chance at evidence short lived

The symptoms that make women think they have been slipped a drug and sexually assaulted are generally the same in all incidents that have been reported to her, Gilray added.

She said there is a period of time after a night of partying that the victim simply can not account for, coupled with the inner feeling that something has happened, which would convince someone that they had been taken advantage of.

"It's like they've been in a coma," Gilray said. "They have no idea what has happened to their body by whom or with what."

Agreeing with Kramer, Gilray said the chances of obtaining solid evidence that a drug was used in the sexual assault usually deteriorates by the time the woman decides to go to the hospital or police.

"There is a 36-hour window of time, from time of ingestion to when we can confirm their belief through obtaining a laboratory sample," she said.

Gilray, who coordinates sexual assault nurse examinations for the Crisis Center, said hospitals are required to report to law enforcement agencies cases in which women may have been victims of sexual assault.

After reporting her experience, the student at the recent party was referred to the University Medical Center, where she was interviewed by a rape counselor and a Pima County Sheriff's Department detective.

The woman later refused to participate in examinations because, she said, she believed nothing had happened and that she was being pressured into the process, said Sgt. Brad Foust, a Pima County Sheriff's Department spokesman.

Foust said the case is closed because a victim has to give consent to pursue criminal charges.

"The doctor tried to strong-arm her into it, but she did not want to," Foust said. "The victim has to give consent. Once you don't do the exam, it won't go anywhere."

Incidents more frequent than it sometimes appears

Gilray added that there are still a greater number of women, especially students at major universities, who never report being raped because it may have involved somebody they know.

Gilray said that nationwide, only 10 percent of sexual assaults are reported.

"Eighty percent of all sexual assaults is in peer groups," she added. "With the University of Arizona, that's why reporting is so low. It's not the guy lurking in the bushes, it's someone they know."

Gilray also said the creation of Rohypnol, manufactured by Hoffman-LaRoche Inc. to treat sleep disorders, cannot be the sole recipient of blame for drug-induced sexual assaults.

Drugs such as Valium and Ketamine have been given to rape victims in the past, and "alcohol has been used for ages," Gilray said.

Hueston said there were two 1997 incidents in which women reported to university police that they believe they had been given Rohypnol.

"I believe the drug is alive and well in the area," he said.

Hueston said people can watch out for signs they are in danger of getting a spiked drink, recalling an incident in 1997 in which about 15 people reported feeling strange after they all had consumed drinks prepared from the same unknown source.

Other incidents involving the drugs had been reported by students to other police agencies because they occurred off campus, Hueston added.

In addition, some assaults are reported to the Dean of Students Office, but information about those incidents was not available because the university asserts that the reports are educational records, protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB):

A synthetic central nervous system depressant that has been tested in the United States for possible medical uses. Popular on the rave scene and sometimes promoted for body-building.

STREET NAMES:

Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH), Liquid X, Liquid E, Liquid Ecstasy, Easy Lay, G, Vita-G, G-Juice, Georgia Home Boy, Great Hormones, Somatomax, Bedtime Scoop, Soap, Gook, Gamma 10, and Energy Drink.

Rohypnol:

Manufactured legally and used to treat sleep disorders. Often obtained in Mexico, where it can be legally sold, then smuggled into the United States.

STREET NAMES:

Roofies, Roches, Roaches, La Roachas, Rope, Rib, Forget Pill, Poor Man's Quaalude, R-2s, Roach-2s, Circles, Dulcitas, Whiteys, Trip-and-Fall, Mind Erasers, Lunch Money.
Source: 1997 UCLA Rape Treatment Center handout

Nora Gilray, of the Tucson Rape Crisis center, said there are community resources in Tucson available for victims of sexual assault. "There is someone out there to help them," she said. "We're not going to let them go through this alone."

• Oasis Center for Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence, Old Main building, Room 234: 626-2051
• Tucson Rape Crisis Center and Crisis Line: 327-7273