Its article distinguishes opportunistic assaults, which exploit existing intoxication, from proactive assaults, in which an offender causes involuntary substance consumption. Mixed situations can also occur.
The offender’s responsibility
The observatory recommends describing what perpetrators do, avoiding language that encourages blaming the person who experienced the violence.
A challenge for research
A systematic review of nineteen studies, first published in 2023, had already called for shared definitions to help professionals work together. Its authors identified an overrepresentation of proactive cases and insufficient attention to opportunism in research. The selection started with 773 publications located across three scientific databases.
Context matters
The review describes the available literature; it does not measure Spanish incidence in 2026.
The date refers to the linked original publication. This summary preserves the context at that date.
← Back to the archive