Tackling drink spiking pandemic

What more do women have to do to protect ourselves?

SASKIA FRYER on the recent cases of women being spiked by drugs in Liverpool and what needs to be done

Women’s safety has been a big topic in conversations amongst politicians and even in schools. Yet, now it has become a much more spoken about issue amongst young female students as a rise in drinks being spiked has appeared.

Since the murders of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa, it has caused anger from women at how we can’t go about doing as many normal routines compared to men in fear of being attacked. Such as, walking alone in the evening or even getting public transport at night can be daunting. It’s a constant cycle of being told what women should do to protect themselves rather than address the problem itself, which is some men who are misogynistic.

What is now causing most women fear, and has done for a long time, is going out to enjoy their social life at clubs and bars and having to remain alert in case their drink will be spiked by drugs, especially ‘date-rape drugs’. Many women on social media have come forward and brought attention to the fact that they have been spiked by injections whilst out. This is incredibly scary and alarming, especially as a young student myself, who just wants to go out and have fun with their friends. Women and young girls have always been following the rules of making sure to stay with your friends, don’t walk alone at night and cover your drinks when out at bars or clubs.

However, a number of women across Liverpool and the rest of the UK have been flooding twitter with images of themselves where they had been injected with drugs. Also, descriptions as to how it affected them and left them in a vulnerable and dangerous state. One twitter user said: “I got spiked by someone I know. I was covered in blood and sick and someone stole my shoes.”

There have already been girls who have said they have been spiked in clubs in the Liverpool City Centre for example, Heebie Jeebies and Level have had cases. MerseyNewsLive did contact Level to get their opinion on the issue, yet they did not respond. Two students from Liverpool John Moores expressed how they have been feeling about the recent rise in cases. Beth Lindop said: “My mum has always drilled into me from a young age to watch your drink when you go out. But when you hear from friends of friends and people you know it’s happened to, it really hits home that this is a serious problem.”

Catrin Jones has experienced two of her own friends being spiked, one of them being in Liverpool’s Concert Square: “I’ve had two of my friends spiked in the space of two weeks and also hearing about these stories of girls being injected it makes me really angry because I think of how unfair it is that we can’t really enjoy a night out because of this.”

There have even been devices created for those who want to make sure that their drink won’t get spiked. Amazon are selling a ‘Nightcap’ which is a scrunchie with a cap inside which you can put over your drink. It has a hole in it to fit your straw in so you can drink it without people being able to put pills or powders in it. I would be lying if I told you me and my friends weren’t already thinking about investing in this.

Although, now with the concern of being injected by a drug, it poses an important question. If women already do everything they can to protect themselves, then what more do we have to do to save ourselves from something like this?

It’s exhausting to see one thing after another happening to women who are just trying to live a normal

‘It really hits

home that this is a serious problem’

life yet are now being made to fear going out at all.

Petitions have now been made to help combat certain fears for students. Such as, people are calling for the reinstatement of the night bus services in Liverpool, which use to run hourly before the pandemic hit. This has already received over 2,500 signatures out of 5,000, which is not surprising considering students make the most of the nightlife in Liverpool. Liverpool City Council have already been working on the Safer Streets fund with the Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner, Emily Spurrell, where the money will be used for safe spaces for people to go to if they feel unsafe. Also, adding more CCTV around bus stops and on public transport. Although, this helps with keeping women safer on the streets, but we need to address the issue of people using drugs to harm, and in most instances, attack women. We want to prevent anyone being spiked, it shouldn’t be happening and should have never been happening. Men and young boys should be taught about misogyny at schools and universities. They should learn from a young age about consent and how to value a woman’s boundaries. Most importantly, they need to have the confidence to call out other men on their predatory behaviour towards women so we can change the narrative of women being victims to these crimes once and for all.

• If you have been a victim ofthis crime then call 999 and report it to Merseyside Police

Some of the clothing Ohuni have available currently on their website. Photo Credit: Ohuni Clothing

Finding the perfect fit

We uncover the trio behind thriving Liverpool clothing business Ohuni

DANNIELLE JONES speaks with three friends Anna, Kirsty and Chanceline about their new Liverpool-based clothing website ‘Ohuni Clothing’ to find out how they began their business, what their inspirations are, their customer values and much more!

The coronavirus pandemic has cast a shadow over the UK since it began - however, the countless lockdowns and time spent indoors gave some people a lightbulb moment and many businesses were created as a result.

This was the case for three friends Kirsty, Chanceline and Anna who decided to set up their own Liverpool Based online clothing company ‘Ohuni Clothing’ after they realised that spending so much time shopping online was only being met with difficulty and disappointment and in today’s feature Mersey News Live Reporter Dannielle Jones spoke to the girls about their business, how they came up with the idea, their values and inspirations and what is new and upcoming down the line.

The three girls came up with their business last year during lockdown when they were spending more time buying clothes online instead of in person (which was on a rise due to shops in the city being shut because of the pandemic) and were constantly finding that they were being misled by the adverts on screen.

This gave them an idea and they decided to take the matter into their own hands and set up their own local online shop for finding the perfect items through your phone without the worry that they will not appear the same when delivered.

Chanceline told MNL: “From our own personal experiences when buying clothes online and on a budget, we found that clothes would come and look nothing like the pictures and so we hand-picked our items to ensure quality. No see-through dresses from us!”

Kirsty added: “We decided to wait until we could go and see the clothes before we bought them as one of the most important things to us is the quality and we didn’t want to order something that looks good online and then it be a disappointment to our customers.”

The three girls began their journey when they met at work and became friends. Anna told us how since meeting they have all gone on to have separate jobs which they work at alongside running their business which helps balance their workload for their website, saying: “We have since all moved on to different career paths and because of this, we split the work between each other which is great because if one of us has a really busy week ahead we know orders will be fulfilled and our social media will always be maintained for our business.”

They continued to explain how setting up a business in the pandemic came with some issues such as meeting and finding suppliers for clothing and shooting promotion photos and Kirsty told us: “We have been doing all of our business calls remotely which has been an adjustment,

but it does help that most people are doing their shopping online these days.” Their business uses social media pages on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to promote their upcoming clothing lines and the girls also explained how they work with local upcoming influencers and people to give their brand a personal touch and build strong relationships with the surrounding community, which is one of their business’s main values. Anna explained: “We like to give back to our community and show our appreciation for the support we get by running giveaways and “We want competitions etc.” Kirsty added: “We to have fun with are person centred and people orienour business and build tated, customer satisfaction is a trusted community paramount for us, and I think around our brand.” sometimes with big brands this can be lost from a customer perspective. “We want to have fun with our business and build a trusted community around our brand. There are so many big brands out there that when you buy from them you feel like a number, but we wanted to provide a friendly service and community through our company.” Their brand continues to grow with their social media pages’ numbers increasing daily and when asked about their plans and ideas for the future they hinted: “You will have to wait and see. Watch out for our socials!” The business is currently primarily online, and the girls have no short-term plans to open a physical shop, however if their popularity increases who knows what will happen next! “We like to give back to our community and show our appreciation for the support we get by running giveaways and competitions etc.”

Shopping online has risen since the pandemic begun. Photo Credit: Pickawood on Unsplash

Black Leather Skirt and purple milkmaid top are amongst the few items available on their website currently -Photo Credit: Ohuni Clothing.