Saskia Vandoorne

So this is a great first step.

But I think it also goes to how do we better form the police?

How do we better form to deal with this types of, you know, drug facilitated assault, rape?

How do we better train the medical community?

A lot of the survivors

They believed that there was something wrong with them, much like Giselle Pellico.

They began having serious memory loss.

Zoe thought she had some kind of neurological disorder.

But every time they would go and visit the doctor, they would go with their husband, with their partner, who was able to then manipulate the conversation and dismiss what the partner was saying.

Oh, you've been under a lot of stress lately, darling.

It's probably that.

Or, you know, maybe it's the pressure that you're feeling at work.

And again, like if the medical community, I think, were more aware of this type of crime, then perhaps next time they would ask the husband to, you know, kindly leave the room and are able to ask these women better questions to be able to ascertain whether or not they are in fact being drugged.

So I think, you know, great first step when it comes to saying yes means yes.

But more needs to be done when tackling this specific crime.

And for a lot of these survivors like Zoe, like Giselle, once they're in that courtroom and you've got lawyers that are asking you questions like, well, you are a bit of an exhibitionist, aren't you, you know, Giselle, or...

Zoe, were you someone who was into swinging?

Your sex life is suddenly being looked into, you know, it's being brought out into the public and you're being asked questions that, again, are incredibly re-traumatizing.

And Zoe said, you know, if she knew how hard and how difficult and the kind of questions she was going to have to take during the trial, if she had known all of that, maybe she wouldn't have had the courage to go through with it.

And again, anybody watching the Giselle Pellico trial, any survivor watching that would probably leave thinking, there is no way I want to put myself through that kind of, you know, scrutiny and the types of questions that she had to field.