Motion NDM7824 as amended:

To propose that the Senedd:

1. Notes with concern the distressing increase in spiking incidents in venues across Wales.

2. Believes that the act of spiking is an insidious crime that removes a person’s dignity, rights and freedom and firmly asserts that it is the fundamental right of women to feel safe and to live freely.

3. Firmly asserts that the onus falls not on the victims of such crimes but on the perpetrators and those who know individuals that are involved in committing these crimes and fail to report perpetrators when it is safe to do so.

4. Commits the Welsh Government to push ahead with its work on violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence and the renewed focus on holding perpetrators to account.

5. Commits the Welsh Government to work with key stakeholders, particularly those in the night time economy, to review and implement all possible safety options as a matter of urgency.

6. Calls on the Welsh Government to:

a) support initiatives which actively challenge cultural attitudes that allow sexual assault and harassment to take place;

b) produce a comprehensive strategy on preventing sexual assault and harassment in Wales’s night-time economy;

c) seek clarity from the UK Government on its plans to classify misogyny as a hate crime, which would encourage reporting of spiking incidents and enable better categorisation of crime to understand the scale of the issue.

7. Calls on the Welsh Government to work with the UK Government to:

a) improve reporting mechanisms and processes around sexual assault and harassment;

b) improve support for victims of spiking and other forms of sexual assault and harassment.