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The Vancouver Courier

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Safety campaign warns celebrants to beware of spiked drinks during Games



Janaya Fuller-Evans, Vancouver Courier
Published: Monday, February 08, 2010


Vancouver is fast becoming a party town as the Olympic Games near. But organizers of the SafeVibe campaign hope residents and visitors hitting bars and lounges don't fall victim to spiked drinks.

The campaign is one of the efforts being made citywide to prevent drug and alcohol facilitated sexual assaults, including a partnership between the Bar Watch program and the Vancouver Police Department.

Women Against Violence Against Women started the Olympics-related campaign to educate people about the possibility of assaults during the Games. Sexual assaults related to drugs and alcohol made up more than 37 per cent of WAVAW's hospital accompaniments in 2009, the organization reported.

Funding for the campaign came through Justice Canada in November, according to SafeVibe project coordinator, Michele Murphy. So far, V Lounge at Earls Yaletown and the Fairview Pub have agreed to put up posters and pass out coasters to educate patrons about SafeVibe, and a team of 10 to 12 volunteers will be going out to bars and clubs during the Games to hand out informational material.

"It has gotten really big," Murphy said. "We're hoping to do this every year." The campaign kicked off Feb. 4 with a packed house at V Lounge in Yaletown. "It's the kind of [women-friendly] environment they're trying to create," Murphy said of the venue.

Eight fraternities at the University of British Columbia were invited to take part in the SafeVibe campaign but only the Jewish fraternity agreed to participate. "It sounded like a fantastic idea," Jonathan Lerner, president of Alpha Epsilon Pi, said at the launch party. "Especially during the Olympics."

Lerner attended the party after being approached by UBC philosophy student Isaac Rosenberg, one of the volunteers with the campaign. "I have personally known people who have been sexually assaulted," Lerner said, mentioning a gay friend whose drink was spiked at a bar.

The fraternity has 41 active members at UBC, as well as many past alumni, he said. Victoria Bonilla, a 21-year-old public administration student at UBC, also attended the launch after being invited by Rosenberg.
Bonilla isn't worried about spiked drinks but she is aware they can happen.

Bonilla, who is planning to celebrate in public during the Olympics, said she and her friends watch each other's drinks when they are at the bar. She was curious about the launch because these kinds of public awareness campaigns wouldn't happen in Mexico, where she's from.

"I was interested because in Mexico we don't do this," Bonilla said, adding she was surprised the organization hosting the event wasn't collecting money. Inspector Bob Usui of the Vancouver Police Department said sexual assaults are always a problem, not just during the Olympics.

"We're always concerned about that," Usui, who is in charge of special investigations, said. "We investigate every sexual assault that comes our way." He added that the VPD is working with Bar Watch to prevent drug and alcohol facilitated sexual assaults.

The VPD investigates an average of 400 to 450 reported sexual assaults per year, Usui said.

janayafe@gmail.com




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