“I am fighting not for myself, but for all those who have been victims of sexual violence, or who will become victims in the future,” said Nina Fuchs, founder and president of the International Women’s Health Act. KO – no victims (Knockout – no victim).
In 2013, Fuchs was raped while under the influence of date-rape drugs; Prosecutors eventually dropped the case despite DNA evidence linking the suspect to her attack. In 2020, she founded KO with six other women and has since advocated tirelessly for survivors.
When he learned of plans for tougher legislation – which would equate using date-rape drugs to rape committed with the use of a weapon and carry a minimum prison sentence of five years – he did not see it as a victory.
“I felt a mixture of disappointment and frustration. If you’re going to do something, it should actually help and benefit the people affected. That’s why I, like other experts, have come to the conclusion that this is just symbolic politics,” she told DW.
More stringent penalties and harsher sentences will have little impact if there are hardly any convictions, he said. “In Germany, only about one in 100 rapes result in a conviction. When it comes to date-rape drugs, the rate is even lower because it is very difficult to investigate due to low traceability.”
Knockout Drops take effect immediately, but may not be detected quickly
These colorless, odorless substances, which criminals secretly add to victims’ drinks or inject into their skin through clothing using a needle, take effect within 10 to 20 minutes. They rob victims of any chance to defend themselves; After that, they become helpless and often lose consciousness. But after just 12 hours, no trace of the drug could be found in blood or urine samples.
“Rape involving the use of knockout drops is particularly insidious and dangerous. This is sexual violence in a particularly serious form – and it mainly affects women. Criminal law must respond strongly to this, because effective protection against violence requires consistent penalties,” Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig said on May 13, when she introduced the law in Berlin.
“We must better protect women in particular from attacks and to do so, we are relying on a wide range of measures, both within the criminal law and beyond,” Hubig said.
Police often don’t believe victims
Yet what happened to Fuchs in April 2013 could still happen 13 years later, even as awareness of the use of date-rape drugs has grown in Germany. When she went to the police in Munich, where there is also a special unit for sexual crimes, the authorities did not believe her. He described the experience as a “slap in the face”.
But Fuchs has heard about similar experiences today: One woman who was raped recalled that police interrogated her for six hours about whether she was active on the dating platform Tinder, or ever went home with a date.
And even in 2026, police stations still do not take urine samples immediately because they underestimate the detection ability of date-rape drugs.
“For example, a sensible measure would be to train the police and the judiciary on the topics of sexual violence, date-rape drugs and trauma. So that when you eventually go to the police you do not have to fear experiencing something worse than the crime,” Fuchs said.
Politicians should also reconsider awareness training about date-rape drugs in schools. “People in schools always think about victimization prevention, but we shouldn’t forget that there are potential future offenders sitting there, too,” Fuchs said.
‘Keep an eye on your drinks’ is not 100% safety
Fuchs also rejects the notion that all you have to do is keep a close eye on your drinks at the club, and then nothing bad will happen to you.
The phrase “watch your drinks”, which many parents tell their children before going out clubbing, is well-intentioned but often useless. The substance may already be in the glass, or a small injection may be given in the upper arm or thigh. Furthermore, it creates perfect grounds to “blame the victim” for not taking more precautions. Staying in a group to avoid attack is the only option that helps.
“Turning sexual criminal law into ‘yes means yes'”. “This will really help,” Fuchs said. He said this means that the sexual act is punishable if the other person has not clearly consented to it.
Until now, the “no means no” model is still in place in Germany, which often requires victims to prove that they have clearly objected.
Study: Many suspected cases, few prosecutions
The best overview of how widespread the knockout drop problem is in Germany, Austria and Switzerland comes from Charlotte Forster, a junior professor of European management at the Technical University of Chemnitz.
Forster is leading the “Don’t Knock Me Out” study, in which youth ages 14 and older report their own experiences with date-rape drugs in an anonymous online survey; 3,000 people have already participated, and early interim results have raised serious concerns.
“We analyzed an initial dataset from Germany, which included 1,802 people; 725 people suspected of abusing substances as knockout drops were given to them without their consent. And according to our respondents, only 23 cases resulted in criminal prosecution,” Forster told DW.
He said, “Even if penalties are increased now – which is, of course, an important step in the right direction – there will be essentially no consequences if no criminal prosecutions are brought. If many cases go unpunished, it has no deterrent effect on potential offenders.”
Without standardized procedures, strict laws are of little help
Förster summarized the main findings of his current study and a study on unreported crimes conducted by the Federal Criminal Police Office in cooperation with the ministries of family affairs and the interior: About one in 20 Germans suspect that they have been drugged and assaulted at some point, yet only one in 10 incidents is ultimately reported. Blood, urine or other samples are taken in only 8% of cases.
Risk may be overestimated in public places, while it is underestimated in private places. Yet, despite many serious cases, there has not yet been a “spiking” epidemic. Main points of Forster’s criticism:
“We need structured processes. When someone with such suspicions approaches the police, the hospital or even their family doctor or gynecologist there should be a standardized process to proceed. No valuable time should be wasted because staff are untrained or do not take victims seriously. Without these changes, this legislative amendment will have no major consequences.”
In a few months, Forster will present the final results of her drug rape study. Incidentally, she is still waiting for government funding for her research project.
This article was originally written in German.