Characteristics of drug-facilitated sexual assault in Spain

Abstract

The aim of this study consisted in analysing the cases of drug-facilitated sexual assault— chemical submission—from 2008 to 2017. A total of 240 cases registered during this period within the territorial area of the Spanish Civil Guard were analysed. Results show an increasing incidence of sexual assault cases that are drug-facilitated in order to annul the will of the victim, or at least that there is a greater awareness to report these cases. From the analyses carried out, distinctive characteristics of this type of sexual offences were observed with respect to other modalities, in the sense that they are linked to leisure situations (at night, on weekends and holiday periods) although the place of commission is fundamentally the victim's or the perpetrator's residence. The profile of the victim is that of a young woman, of legal age (with a mean age of 25 years) and Spanish, although foreign women are also vulnerable victims. When the victim is male, the mean age decreases notably (20 years) with a higher incidence among minors. The aggressor is eminently male, older (around 30 years) and also Spanish. Databases can be a good starting point to frame the phenomenon, elucidating some of the main variables that intervene in these crimes, such as the moment and place of commission, as well as those persons most inclined to suffer them and, in the opposite pole, those most likely to carry out this type of criminal act.