Take spiking seriously. Know the facts.

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A violation of consent.

Spiking involves giving someone alcohol or drugs without their knowledge or consent. It can happen in social settings, at home, at work and in nightlife venues. Responsibility lies with the person doing it.

A drink test is one part of a wider response that includes supporting people, taking concerns seriously and getting medical help when needed.

READ OFFICIAL SPIKING GUIDANCE · UK ↗

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Where incidents are reported.

Explore the location evidence for the UK, United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Each source has its own period, sample and venue definitions; these charts are not a ranking of country safety.

REPORTED EXPOSURE ENVIRONMENTSREPORTED SETTINGS (%)

Drinkaware Monitor 2025 · 128 respondents reporting spiking

Bars40.9%

Social events26%

Clubs24.8%

Family events14.7%

Work9.4%

Selected settings reported by people who experienced drink spiking in the preceding 12 months. Multiple answers allowed.

Drinkaware / Anglia Ruskin University · Figure 2 ↗

REPORTED EXPOSURE ENVIRONMENTSREPORTED SETTINGS (%)

Historical police records · Jul 2002–Jun 2003 · 292 locations

Bars / pubs37%

Nightclubs30%

Victim’s / offender’s home13%

Hotels / motels8%

Other locations7%

Five largest setting categories in historical police reports. Restaurants and outdoor settings each accounted for a further 2%. Published percentages are rounded.

Australian Institute of Criminology · Table 3 ↗

REPORTED EXPOSURE ENVIRONMENTSLOCATION EVIDENCE

Critic Te Ārohi · original survey and interviews · 2024

Reported settings. No published percentage split.

The survey’s accounts describe spiking at social gatherings and private homes, including:

Birthday parties
After-parties
Friends’ homes

The original report provides examples of settings but no counts by venue. A New Zealand percentage chart cannot be calculated from these published results.

Critic Te Ārohi · Spiked: An Invisible Crime ↗

SOURCE & STUDY LIMITS

Figure 2 and accompanying text, page 5. The source also includes private homes and universities/colleges; the five figures shown are explicitly stated in its text. These are self-reports, not a count of confirmed crimes.

Sources use different venue categories, years and samples. These figures are not directly comparable across countries and do not measure your likelihood of being spiked.

United Kingdom 01 / 05

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