ABSTRACT
Sexual assault encompasses any type of sexual activity with another person without that person's consent. It can include inappropriate touching, intercourse, or attempted intercourse. Various drugs can be employed to render victims physically helpless and unable to refuse sex. The drugs most often associated with drug-facilitated sexual assault (DFSA) are ethanol, GHB, ketamine, and benzodiazepines. The stereotypical DFSA case involves a female drinking alcoholic beverages in a social situation who is surreptitiously drugged by a male and finds herself several hours later in a different location with no memory of events that may have occurred during the missing interval of time. Sexual assault might happen in almost any setting such as when engage in risky behaviors such as hitchhiking or when interacting with trusted health care providers. Alcohol is the most widely used drug for facilitated sexual assault. It alters judgment regarding risky behavior and decreases one's ability to resist sexual or physical advances.
