Sexual assault and MDMA: the distinction between consciousness and awareness when it comes to consent.
In France, the term chemical or drug-assisted submission is usually defined as the rendering of a person vulnerable by the surreptitious administration of an active substance with the purpose of prejudicing the person or his/her possessions. If the harm is sexual assault, establishing the victim's submission involves both proving that a dangerous substance was administered, providing material evidence of the infraction (the assault), i.e. the detection of traces in a physical examination and samples, and proving the absence of consent. We report the case of a woman who was sexually assaulted after having been surreptitiously administered methylenedioxymethamphetamine. In this special case, the woman remained in a state of vigilance (conscious) throughout, so there is doubt about whether or not she consented. In other words, the ability to consent is debatable.
Abondo
M
M
Service de médecine légale, Centre Hospitalo-Universitaire, 2 rue Henri Le Guilloux, 35033, Rennes, France. marlene.abondo@chu-rennes.fr
Bouvet
R
R
Baert
A
A
Morel
I
I
Le Gueut
M
M
D000328:Adult; D001364:Awareness; D001628:Beverages; D003243:Consciousness; D005260:Female; D005554:Forensic Medicine; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry; D006213:Hallucinogens / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018817:N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000032:analysis; D011902:Rape / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000166:cytology
D006213:Hallucinogens; D018817:N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine