It would be understandable to think that the latest cases of chemical submission that have occurred in several nightclubs in the country (the Mossos have counted thirty complaints of syringe pricks, focused on Tropics in Lloret de Mar and in several nightlife venues in Barcelona) are one more sign of the endemic alarmism of the post-Covid world or, simply, one of the many sensationalist soap operas with which journalism tries to mitigate the news drought of the dog days. But I would say that this string of attacks ---directed almost exclusively at women--- predict an unprecedented phenomenon that exposes much more relevant categories; to the fact that most of our young women cannot peacefully enjoy a crowded leisure space would be added a type of aggression much more complex to understand and the creation of spaces of growing impunity.
To confirm the lack of safety that girls experience in the country's nightclubs (add also major festivals) not many studies are needed; simply ask your daughters, nieces, and so on, and they will explain how groping and cases of sexual violence are an inherent part of these places. As always happens, there are many nightclub managers and bouncers who do their job conscientiously (in fact, some victims of needle spiking have publicized on social media the excellent treatment they received from the staff of some nightlife establishments in the country), but the feeling of insecurity still remains intact. It can be argued that thirty assaults is a laughable figure; but we must remember how years ago reports of sexual assault also reached us in dribs and drabs. Silence is also part of the statistics. As a regular patron (too regular, in fact) of many bars and cocktail bars in Barcelona, I have witnessed many cases of forced intoxication firsthand. The scene has an ancestral structure; a girl has barely two or three drinks in her blood when, mysteriously, she starts spinning around, toasted like a barrel, while, shortly after, the gentleman near her kindly offers to accompany her home. For many years, men have looked sideways at this malevolent theater, and many baristas in the city saved it by recommending their customers cover their drink if they went out to smoke. Well, if dropping a pinch into a gin and tonic was very easy, entering a venue hiding a syringe is a bargain for anyone who vents with the simple pleasure of doing harm. This is the new paradigm; aggressors only have the goal of frightening women. Accessing a venue while hiding a syringe is a bargain for anyone who finds release in the simple pleasure of causing harm
Let's get to the bottom of the matter. Chemical submission used to have sexual assault as its primary objective. With the new paradigm of micro-aggression by a prick,
the criminal positions himself as a panopticon of dread in the midst of the darkness of a nightclub. He does not (only) seek to violate women, but rather intends to acquire the figure of the virus itself, to prick girls to sour their week and inoculate fear into their blood.
The crime is more perverse precisely because of its lack of direct intentionality; evil is more morbid precisely because it is even more invisible, anonymous, and a source of contagion. The stabbers want to embody the non-subjectivity of the
hackerand the omnivorous spirit of virality. No matter how many protocols administrations put in place and how many security cameras nightclub owners invent, hiding a syringe in a haystack is a good lure for any psychopath.
It is noteworthy that administrations have reacted to this new climate of sexual terror with the old song of "let's take care of ourselves and protect ourselves," a rhetoric that focuses the responsibility for the pain on women and not on the obligation of the government and nightlife professionals regarding the hunt for the aggressor. The Generalitat and the country's city councils must protect the freedoms of citizens and guarantee safety in leisure spaces.If one wants to end an alleged victimhood (which I do not share,
of course), the best you can do is protect the victims and penalize the aggressors. For now, and forgive my pessimism, the latter are winning the game. Silence, and our indifference, also plays in their favor. It is not the time to lament or make cheap resolutions. It will be enough to remember all the women who left a bar semi-unconscious in the face of our supreme indifference.