The spiking of drinks is not new. I had my own drink spiked in 1982. That was 39 years ago and it's a very frightening experience, and it's one that stays with you for life. In the case of my drink, I was in a friend's pub. I was a licensee myself. I'd stepped out of my front door and probably walked about 800 yards from my own home. I was living in a tiny village in Wales. I wasn't in a nightclub. There was no taste to it and I didn't know what had happened. But I was lucky because I had friends around me and they knew that something was wrong, and they made sure that I got home. I thought that I was ill. They thought that I was ill. I got home, my friend raised the alarm with my husband, I went to bed and I eventually woke up the next day. But what I do remember is I couldn't see any colour. My vision had restored itself to black and white only. It was many, many hours later before I could see the full spectrum of what was around me, but I still didn't know that I'd been spiked. It was many days later, reliving and retelling my experience to my customers that one of them had heard about the spiking of drinks, and suggested that's probably what had happened.

What I do know is that there was a stranger in that particular pub on that particular night, a male stranger, and he never, ever came back to the village. It is undoubtedly the case that he had spiked that drink. I know it, because there were only four or five people in the pub. They were all my friends, two of whom, as I've told you, made sure that I got home. So, it is really, really important that we get this message out. It's also important that we don't just focus on nightclubs, but that we make people aware that drink spiking can happen anywhere at any time. 

I do have to say that I agree that looking after your drinks, getting your friends to look after your drinks is important, but I also agree that putting the onus on the individual and blaming them is wrong. It is the perpetrator who is to blame, it isn't the victim. We've heard victim blaming for women's behaviour time and time again, and it's been alluded to here. We've heard people say, after women have been raped or sexually assaulted, that they've asked for it—after all, their dress was too short, their top was too skimpy. That lets the perpetrator off the hook. In this case, there is only one person who is clearly to blame.

I agree that we must tackle misogyny, because many, many things fall out from the misogynistic language and behaviour that we all see. It most definitely should be included in the end violence against women legislation as a hate crime. There is no doubt that, if you shout abuse at a woman just because she is a woman and use hateful language, it is a hate crime. I'm afraid to say that Boris Johnson, when he said that women chose to go around in burkas looking like letterboxes, used misogynistic language. The language that we use—we as public servants must actually be mindful of the replication of those views and expressions elsewhere. 

I couldn't be clearer about this incident. I know what it's like. I can retell that story today and I can remember the effects of it, but I know I was lucky, and I know other people are not lucky. But, this isn't about me. So, what I ask of all police forces across Wales is to take this seriously. I ask all men to join in the activities, particularly this month, November, when the international day to end violence against women is on 25 November, and stand up and be counted, as I'm sure many men will here. I ask the Welsh Government to work across all communities to engage with all voluntary, public sector and youth organisations to educate and also enforce action to end this crime. Thank you.