A growing network of men who drug their wives and partners before raping them and inviting others to rape them, then posting the attacks online, is believed to be operating across every type of community in Britain. Organised Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault (ODFSA) is now recognised as one of the most rapidly evolving forms of sexual offending and domestic abuse, with fears that many cases mirroring the horrific ordeal of French woman Gisèle Pelicot may have occurred across the UK.
In 2020, police arrested Gisèle's then-husband, Dominique Pelicot, for upskirting women at a local supermarket. A search of his computer revealed that for almost a decade he had repeatedly drugged his wife with tranquilizers and invited dozens of strangers from online to rape her while she lay unconscious. The National Crime Agency (NCA) says they are now discovering a previously hidden digital underworld where trusted loved ones deliberately coordinate the sedation and serious sexual assaults of partners in the same manner. They warn it is not just young women being targeted but women who have been in relationships for decades.
Scale of the Offending
The victims are sedated with drugs or alcohol before being raped and sexually assaulted. Videos and photos of the assaults are shared globally online in extreme misogynistic chatrooms, where other men are encouraged to commit copycat crimes. Since October 2025, NCA investigators have made eight arrests and identified eight victims. More than 270 individuals have been linked to one particular online forum and its successors, and more than 210 intelligence packages relating to perpetrators, suspects and potential victims have been sent to law enforcement partners in the UK and overseas.
Overall, these intelligence packages have resulted in at least 14 separate investigations. The crime surge has sparked the launch of a coordinated UK approach led by the NCA, involving police forces UK-wide.
Coordinated Response
In the UK, the NCA, the National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls and Public Protection (NCVPP), police forces and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) are now working together with health services, Sexual Assault Referral Centres and specialist organisations to identify offending, safeguard victims and disrupt the evil networks.
Nigel Leary, Deputy Director of the NCA, revealed how the offending often originates in easily accessible online spaces – such as social media – before migrating to encrypted channels. He warned that in these dark corners of the internet, abusers normalise their behaviour, seek advice on administering sedatives, share methodologies to avoid detection, and then invite others to participate in the abuse.
Leary said: “All I can say is, from what we've seen so far, the profiles of offenders and the victims are as diverse as our community. This type of offending is no longer isolated behaviour, but increasingly organised, conducted via coordinated networks and enabled by digital platforms, requiring a more sophisticated operational response.”
Impact on Victims
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Helen Millichap, director of the NCVPP, said: “In many cases, victims may not realise what has happened to them at the time. They may only become aware through police contact or emerging evidence, which can be extremely confusing and difficult to process.”
Siobhan Blake, National CPS lead for Rape and Serious Sexual Offences, added: “The abuse we’re discussing is some of the most horrifying I have seen in my career. Victims are being subject to horrendous sexual offending in their own homes in an ultimate breach of trust. This offending thrives in secrecy online and behind closed doors. It is the job of the criminal justice system to bring it out into the open to deliver for victims and survivors.”
