Learn about GBV Safety

How do I know if my drink has been spiked?

• Most date rape drugs take effect within 30 minutes, and symptoms usually last for several hours
• You may still feel some of the symptoms after a night's sleep
• Symptoms usually include some of the following: lowered inhibitions, difficulty concentrating or speaking, loss of balance and finding it hard to move, visual problems, particularly blurred vision, memory loss or "blackouts", feeling confused or disorientated, particularly after waking up, paranoia, hallucinations or having an "out of body" experience, nausea and vomiting, unconsciousness

What should I do if I think my drink has been spiked?

• Immediately tell someone you trust. If you need urgent help, call 999
• Be wary of accepting help from a stranger and don't leave with someone you don't know
• If you feel unwell, someone you trust should take you to your nearest A&E department. Tell the medical staff that you think your drink's been spiked
• Arrange for a trusted friend or relative to take you home and stay with you until the drugs have fully left your system
• If you want to Report it to the police, do so as soon as you can. They may ask you to provide blood and urine samples. Most drugs leave the body within 72 hours of being taken (the date rape drug GHB leaves the body within 12 hours), so it's important to be tested as soon as possible

This information has been sourced from Stop Topps.

Some of our UHI Halls of Residences have access to glass & bottle tops/stoppers, and they may be provided to you during your induction. Keep a look out for the items below:

More information on how to keep yourself safe, can be found on the Safer Scot webpage

Gender Based Violence can cause financial worries and financial safety concerns. You might be experiencing financial or economic abuse, where your partner or ex-partner controls your money and spending, or you may have to consider how to financially support yourself (and/or your children) if you are planning to leave an abusive relationship.

Women’s Aid recommend the following if it feels safe to do so:

• victim/survivors who have just left an abusive partner do not continue to use joint bank accounts, as withdrawals and activity may be traceable
• victim/survivors ;can also change online passwords for their internet banking
• victim/survivors can open a separate bank account (with a different bank) and/or begin to set aside a small emergency fund, if possible

You can also consider reporting economic abuse to your bank or building society

29% of domestic abuse survivors experienced the use of spyware or GPS trackers by their partner or ex-partner. You may consider:

• Covering your tracks online, including your search history
• Using a different device (such as a library computer, or trusted friend's phone)
• Change passwords
• Turn off location sharing on your devices and on your social media
• Check your apps and uninstall anything out of place - it may be spyware

There is lots to consider if you are worried about your safety being compromised online. It's also important to consider how an abuser may respond if they find out that you are aware of the stalking, or that you have blocked/removed them. Take time to weigh this up and seek advice from specialist services or your local student support team.

You might also need to consider documenting your social media/chats/online interactions as evidence of GBV, before deleting any apps or accounts for safety reasons. The Safety Net Project have a comprehensive list of documentation tips. Women's Aid - Online Safety Pages provide info on downloading data from Facebook and Twitter.

Sextortion involves someone tricking or blackmailing you for financial gain. Common methods of sextortion are;

• Webcam Sextortion - coercing a viewer to perform sexual acts on webcam, secretly recording this and threatening to make the footage public unless a payment is made
• Sextortion Phishing Scams - sending an email claiming to have nude images/videos of the recipient, and threatening to make these public unless a payment is made

Sextortion scammers prey on the fact that victim/survivors may feel panicked, isolated, and ashamed. Even if you make a payment, there is no guarantee that they will remove the footage or that they won't ask for money again. Sometimes, the scammer may not even have footage in the first place.

Young men are most likely to be targeted by a sextortion scammer. It does not matter if you performed sexual acts, or sent sexual images - you are not to blame, and should not be judged by police or other support networks. Sextortion is on the rise, you are not alone.

WATCH THE SEXTORTION REACTION VIDEO ON YOUTUBE