SARAH CAREY,
Sir, - The Department of Justice has launched a poster campaign highlighting the dangers of drug rape.
Having read Kathryn Holmquist's excellent article on alcohol abuse in Ireland and watched the recent Prime Time report on drug rape, one must question the justification for this campaign. Despite the hysteria surrounding the proliferation of "rape drugs", the sexual assault unit in the Rotunda Hospital will tell you that they have never come across a rape case where prescription drugs such as Rohypnol were used (cannabis and other recreational drugs do feature). This is not to say that Rohypnol-based rapes do not take place; simply that they are a very rare occurrence.
However, they will tell you that 80 per cent of rape cases do involve the drug alcohol - a drug that can also cause memory loss. Given this clear and unarguable statistic, why is the Government spending money on a poster campaign hyping up a negligible threat instead of warning young women about the clearly higher risks attached to excessive drinking?
Apart from the obvious denial of the problem of alcohol in Ireland, this appears to be a symptom of the increasing but curious tendency to abdicate personal responsibility to one's health and safety in favour of blaming mysterious external factors outside one's control. A more effective campaign would seek to convince young women that drinking to excess will weaken their ability to deal with a physical threat. Instead, the Government urges women to remain on the alert for a spontaneous, external risk against which they are powerless. Wouldn't it do women more justice in the long term to promote a culture of common sense and self control instead of that of perpetual victim-in-waiting? - Yours, etc.,
SARAH CAREY,
Smithfield Village,
Dublin 7.