James Cleverly known as out by Love Island spike sufferer for date-rape drug joke

A Love Island star who was the sufferer of drink spiking has condemned James Cleverly after he made a joke about giving his spouse a date-rape drug.

Sharon Gaffka, who now campaigns on violence towards girls and women, accused the Home Secretary of not treating the problem with “the seriousness it deserves”.

The Mirror revealed that Mr Cleverly joked at a Downing Street reception about spiking his spouse’s drink with a date-rape drug. He advised feminine visitors that “a little bit of Rohypnol in her drink every night” was “not really illegal if it’s only a little bit”. His sick remarks got here simply hours after his Home Office introduced plans to crack down on spiking.

Ms Gaffka accused Mr Cleverly of contributing to the “troubling societal and policing attitudes” about drink spiking.

She advised the Mirror: “To tackle this concern successfully, systemic modifications should come from the highest. While the Home Secretary’s latest initiatives to fight spiking are acknowledged, they fall in need of campaigners’ requests. Coupled with insensitive jokes, it sends a message that the matter is not taken severely.

“During the festive season, incidents of domestic abuse, particularly against women, surge. It’s disappointing that the Home Secretary doesn’t seem to recognise the gravity of domestic abuse and the importance of treating it with the seriousness it deserves.”

In a tweet, she added: “If you were my husband, the only thing you’d be served at Christmas is divorce papers. Disgusting.”

Ms Gaffka, who appeared on ITV’s Love Island in 2021, was out for lunch with pals in a bar in 2020 when her drink was spiked. She was taken to hospital after being discovered unconscious in a rest room cubicle. The social media influencer has stated her “biggest regret” was not reporting her case to police.

Her condemnation of Mr Cleverly got here as a string of MPs known as him out for his remarks.

Alex Davies-Jones, shadow minister for home violence and safeguarding, stated: “‘It was a joke’ is the most tired excuse in the book and no one is buying it. If the Home Secretary is serious about tackling spiking, and violence against women and girls, then that requires a full cultural change. The ‘banter’ needs to stop and it has to start at the top.”

Labour MP Jess Phillips stated: “It will be painted as if we can’t take a joke. We can. We even make them. The thing that men making these jokes don’t understand is that it leaves a trail of breadcrumbs for women to follow to know they won’t be believed. That there experiences are just bantz.”

Fellow Labour MP Stella Creasy stated: “As Alanis Morissette taught us, ironic is meeting the man of your dreams and then meeting his beautiful wife, not suggesting she needs to be drugged to have a relationship with you. Good job he’s not in charge of tackling violence against women… oh.”

Mr Cleverly’s “ironic joke” got here on the identical day he sat within the Commons as his Home Office minister Laura Farris gave a press release on altering the legislation to deal with spiking.

In a Home Office press launch on the announcement Mr Cleverly, 54, stated: “The public should be under no illusion – spiking is a serious offence and I urge anyone who suspects they have been a victim of this to contact the police now. This Government has already gone further than ever before to protect the public from harm, and ensuring that women and girls can live their lives free from fear is one of my top priorities as Home Secretary.”

Conversations at Downing Street receptions are normally understood to be “off the record”. The Sunday Mirror determined to publish what Mr Cleverly stated as a result of we imagine these are distinctive circumstances given his position as Home Secretary and the subject material. It is our responsibility to tell readers of what was stated by the minister liable for crime.

Mr Cleverly’s spokesman stated: “In what was always understood as a private conversation, the Home Secretary made what was clearly meant to be an ironic joke – for which he apologises.”