Universities minister Michelle Donelan
(Picture: PA Media)Universities must do more to keep students safe from “spiking”, the universities minister said on Tuesday, saying someone close to her has been a victim.
Michelle Donelan called on all universities to introduce a policy on tackling spiking- which includes drink spiking and attacks with needles - by the end of the year.
She said: “This is an issue that is very close to my heart, having had someone close to me spiked when I was younger, which had devastating consequences. So I know first-hand what a horrific crime this is and I am determined to stamp it out.”
The department for education and home office on Tuesday launched a working group dedicated to tackling the number of attacks against students. Vice-Chancellors, police, campaigners and victims will work together to produce plans for practical action that could keep students safe.
A survey by student outlet The Tab suggested 11 per cent of students believed they have had their drink spiked, and research by the Alcohol Education Trust found more than one in 10 young adults had been victims of spiking.
Ms Donelan said: “Recent incidents show that perpetrators are becoming more brazen in the way they are committing this appalling crime – which is why I am tasking a new working group to look at the issue more closely and come up with practical actions to stamp out spiking at our universities.”
She praised schemes introduced by the University of Exeter – which is offering students drink safety test strips - and Nottingham Trent University - which is giving “bystander intervention training” to staff in clubs and bars.
Rachel Maclean, Minister for Safeguarding, said: “Spiking is a heinous crime which puts lives at risk.”
Dawn Dines, founder of Stamp out Spiking, said: “I have been campaigning now against drink spiking issues for nearly two decades. It is a disgusting cowardly crime that I have been actively raising awareness on to help protect and educate to safeguard on this issue.”
She added: “We know that this crime has been hugely underreported for years and I have personally spoken to hundreds of victims and their family members, with this learning we can help to safeguard future victims to ensure that we gain more convictions and educate the general public on what drink spiking actually is, with a multi-agency approach, we can really get to the heart of the problem and make such a huge difference to stamp out this crime.”
