Committee
Education, Children and Young People Committee 26 January 2022
26 Jan 2022 · S6 · Education, Children and Young People Committee
Item of business
Drink and Needle Spiking
Professor Sally Mapstone (Universities Scotland)
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I agree with Hilary Sloan. There is still a lot of work to do to gauge the extent and prevalence of spiking in Scotland. We might discuss that today and look at how we can best work with young people to ensure that we get that information and use it properly. The matter particularly affects young people, including students, but we should not think that it is exclusively confined to the student community. It is important to note that spiking is a widespread problem that goes beyond our universities and colleges and the towns associated with them. There is no doubt that it can be associated with the start of term and young people getting together. However, Hilary Sloan has made an important point in stressing the progress that we have made in getting evidence and working with our students and young people to get out information about how to deal with a situation in which they might think that they have been spiked and how to prevent that happening, and to generate a culture of support. Prevention should be about the perpetrators. It is important that we listen to students and that we do not get into a culture of victim blaming. That is not appropriate and does not help young people.
In the same item of business
The Convener
Con
Agenda item 4 is an evidence session on drink and needle spiking. Joining us today for a round-table discussion are Jill Stevenson, dean of diversity and inc...
Superintendent Hilary Sloan (Police Scotland)
As you said, convener, there was a significant increase in the reporting of spiking incidents in mid-October, which coincided with public concern in relation...
The Convener
Con
What is your assessment of what caused the uptick over the Halloween period? Was that in a specific geographical area or was it at a set of events?
Superintendent Sloan
The three primary areas where the incidents have been most prevalent are the student cities—Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh—and they usually coincide with th...
Professor Sally Mapstone (Universities Scotland)
I agree with Hilary Sloan. There is still a lot of work to do to gauge the extent and prevalence of spiking in Scotland. We might discuss that today and look...
The Convener
Con
We can hear the voice of students from Ellen MacRae.
Ellen MacRae (Edinburgh University Students Association)
I agree with Sally Mapstone’s point that it is not only students who are impacted. I think that every student knows at least one person who has been spiked d...
Martha Williams (Girls Night In)
I can give another student perspective on the question of why spiking has escalated. One explanation that I have come to is that we have all been kept indoor...
The Convener
Con
What is the reason for that?
Martha Williams
As Ellen MacRae has said, there is a culture of victim blaming. People are afraid that, if they come forward, their stories will not be taken seriously. Unfo...
The Convener
Con
I see that Stephanie Callaghan has put a comment in the chat function, asking for more information about the survey that you mentioned. Can you run through s...
Martha Williams
The data were gathered from a social media account that has turned itself into an outlet for people to come forward and report incidents of spiking that they...
The Convener
Con
I wonder whether Kate Wallace can shed further light on that.
Kate Wallace (Victim Support Scotland)
Thank you for bringing me in, convener. The underreporting of crime is generally an issue, with fewer than half of those who say that they have been a victim...
The Convener
Con
You—
Kate Wallace
We should also remember that there is no specific crime of spiking, which does not help in gauging prevalence. I am sorry if I interrupted you, convener.
The Convener
Con
No—you made a very important point. You mentioned the settings where there is what you have described as additional unwelcome alcohol, which I presume is put...
Kate Wallace
Or you are given, say, triples that you do not want or have not asked for.
The Convener
Con
What is the most likely setting for that? Are you suggesting that that is more likely to happen in a private setting?
Kate Wallace
We are talking about multiple settings—it is not just one or the other. I just wanted to remind people that spiking can occur outwith nightclubs, pubs and th...
Superintendent Sloan
I want to reiterate some of the points that have been made. We in Police Scotland have focused our communications on perpetrator behaviour, because it is the...
The Convener
Con
There was a comment earlier from Ellen MacRae, I think, about reporting. How would a victim—someone who has had such a thing perpetrated on them—normally rep...
Superintendent Sloan
It depends on the individual and on what they wish to do. We have bystander awareness training, which we have shared with the staff of licensed premises and ...
Martha Williams
I will make a quick point. One of the key issues in the conversation is the fact that there is such a lack of clarity on the procedure for reporting spikings...
The Convener
Con
It is apt that we turn to Jill Stevenson, from the University of Stirling, who is also director of the Association of Managers of Student Services in Higher ...
Jill Stevenson (Association of Managers of Student Services In Higher Education)
I hope that I can pick up on some of those points. Notwithstanding the valid points that have been made about the issue being not just for students but for w...
The Convener
Con
Martha Williams mentioned that young people have been locked in and locked down, and she gave that as one of the reasons for the uptick, which is very plausi...
Jill Stevenson
It is a complex question, because there are many types of gender-based violence. I would probably defer to the police on prevalence. We know that all types o...
The Convener
Con
Would Hilary Sloan like to make a quick comment on that? Then I will bring in Kaukab Stewart, who has a point to address to Mike Grieve and Andrew Green.
Superintendent Sloan
People having the confidence to report incidents to us, whether it is gender-based violence or any other crime, is key for us. We want people to come forward...