‘He had a lot of profiles’: The rise of online drug-facilitated rape gangs

A disturbing pattern has emerged across several countries involving coordinated online networks that facilitate drug-facilitated sexual assault and the dissemination of related content. Zoe Watts, a survivor from Devon, England, disclosed that her ex-husband administered crushed sleeping pills to her tea and subsequently exploited her sedated state to create photographs and videos. She discovered that her images were distributed across multiple online profiles. Her ex-husband received an 11-year prison sentence in 2022. In May, Watts and fellow survivor Amanda Stanhope launched the #EndEyeCheck campaign to raise awareness about drug-facilitated sexual assault and its online dissemination.

A specific subgenre of online content depicts individuals appearing unconscious, potentially through drug administration, catering to a sexual interest known as somnophilia. While some such content involves staged scenarios with willing participants, other material documents actual crimes, often including so-called "eye checks" where perpetrators lift victims' eyelids to confirm unconsciousness. Emma Quilty, a research fellow at Monash University's ARC Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, explained that such cybercrime frequently becomes classified as domestic or intimate-partner violence, obscuring the broader networks and systematic failures that enable these crimes. She compared the phenomenon to organised crime, noting it requires platforms for operation, communication channels, rule enforcement mechanisms, and entrenched belief systems such as misogyny.

International law enforcement has identified multiple organised networks engaged in these activities. In Germany, a group of men was convicted of drugging and raping women and sharing footage in a Telegram group chat. The crimes primarily involved Chinese men in Germany targeting Chinese women across Europe, though the phenomenon extends across all nationalities and demographics. Britain's National Crime Agency has identified 270 members of an international network organising drug-facilitated sexual assault, while Europol's Project Medusa has identified 156 perpetrators and victims from another network. The issue gained global attention in 2024 with the case of Gisele Pelicot.