The German Social-democratic party, SPD, prides itself to be at the forefront of the battle for women’s rights. Protection for women against sexual violence is one of the core causes of the party, whose European Election Program even included a separate subsection dedicated to the protection of women from violence.
But after nine women reportedly ingested some form of knockout drugs—‘KO drops,’—a rape drug, at the annual summer party of the SPD in Berlin, the SPD might face a scandal, since some party members may not be living up to the standards of women’s rights they vehemently demand from others.
The party was attended, by invitation only, by approximately 1,000 party members. The following day, a 21-year old woman reported to the police that even though she had only consumed food and soft drinks, she started feeling unwell at around 9:30 p.m. The next morning she couldn’t remember anything else from the evening.
The symptoms described by the alleged victim, including nausea and dizziness, resemble the effects of so-called ‘KO drops’ that can cause unconsciousness and memory loss, and are, according to the police, most commonly used at parties by men intent on committing sexual abuse or theft. The 21-year old wasn’t the only victim; upon checking with other attendees, at least eight other women reported similar symptoms. However, none of the women who fell victim to these KO drops at the SPD party appear to have been raped or robbed.
The SPD released a statement, calling the incident an “outrageous event,” and called upon further victims to report to the police. The SPD stressed it would do anything necessary to shed light on the situation.
Another unnamed victim told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur that she, too, had memory loss. “My colleagues told me that I was still responsive and that I felt dizzy, but I cannot remember any of it. I’m missing half an hour, it was a total blackout.” The colleagues called her husband, who then picked her up and brought her home.
Police are still investigating the case, the difficulty, however, is the low traceability of such drugs. They are often color-, odor-, and tasteless, and can only be traced for 6 hours in the bloodstream and up to 12 hours in urine. Still, a toxicological investigation has been initiated in hopes of finding clues about the substance used, but results are still extant.
