Portsmouth spiking victim left 'weak and vulnerable' after being sexually assaulted following night out
and live on Freeview channel 276
The 31-year-old told The News up until the assault in Portsmouth she was a ‘fiery person’ but the incident has ‘put my fire out’.
She had been out with friends in Southsea before being asked to leave a venue after she believes she was possibly spiked.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThe woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, got in a taxi with a man known to her members of her group and wanted to go home.
But instead she was attacked while asleep at a man’s house.
She said: ‘I was taken to his house and the next thing I know, I woke up and I was being violently sexually assaulted in my sleep.
‘I woke up to what was going on and I locked myself in a bathroom and waited for a taxi, and then I just literally ran out of the house.’
She is speaking out today about the assault last month amid an increase in spiking incidents reported to police in Portsmouth.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdAnd it comes as the creators behind app Contactless Menu launch a new safety feature for women in bars, clubs and hotels.
It allows registered users at venues using the food and drink ordering app to discreetly raise the alarm in an unsafe or uncomfortable situation.
The new safety feature, which sends an alert to staff and a trusted contact, already has the support of 10 venues in Portsmouth – with more expected to sign up following the launch.
And it is being backed by the spiking victim who said if it existed at the time of her attack last month, it could have helped her get home safe.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdShe said: ‘I’ve heard some really horrible things with regards to spiking. (The app’s) not going to completely prevent everything – that’s impossible.
‘You can’t stop people being rapists and murderers but what you can do is take better steps to protect ourselves from those people.
‘If it’s something available to use on the night one of my friends could have used this to get me help.’
She added: ‘I could’ve been looked after and been escorted and got to my home a bit safer,’ she said.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad‘It’s such an immediate thing, you’ve got to open your phone, press a button - you don’t need to cause a scene and the help will be there for you.’
As of last month, police in Portsmouth said there had been 18 incidents of drink spiking in the city reported to them since July.
Data obtained by National World shows there were 12 offences of administering a substance with intent in Hampshire between 2016-2020.
The woman assaulted last month said she is soon to get therapy although said the police investigation had been ‘slow going’. She said: ‘I never ever imagined something like this would happen to me.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad‘I’m very confident, very loud, very bolshie. I’ve never had a fear of men – I love going out and I love being sociable.
‘But it’s really put me off people. I’ve not been sleeping very well.
‘I was referred to therapy, I’m very anxious – I think it’s been a massive knock and made me look at the world a little bit differently, and people differently.
‘Now when I go out... I’m constantly people-watching everybody. I’ve been having to get my parents to come out with me to feel a bit safer.
‘I'm a very fiery person and I feel it's put my fire out.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad‘That’s what makes me feel something I never really have – weak and vulnerable – and that’s so far from what I am.
‘To be made to feel that way with such a lack of control, I just feel so violated.
‘I think the main reason I wanted to be so involved in the app is if I can even be part of one person not being made to feel that way it will make me feel better.’
She said police had yet to make an arrest or seize CCTV footage that could help the investigation.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdA Hampshire police spokeswoman said: ‘The woman involved is being supported by specialist officers.
‘An investigation into the incident is underway and our enquiries are ongoing. No arrests have been made at this time.
‘We are currently working to follow up all lines of enquiry available to us to enable a thorough and full investigation.’
The attack comes after an 18-year-old woman was spiked in Pryzm nightclub last month.