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Love Island’s Sharon Gaffka slammed James Cleverly after he made a joke about giving his wife a date rape drug.
The Home Secretary, 54, made the ill-advised comments at a Downing Street reception where he told guests that “a little bit of Rohypnol in your drink every night” was “not really illegal if it’s just a little bit”, reported the Sunday Mirror. .
James also laughed that the secret to a long-lasting marriage was making sure your spouse was “someone who is always lightly sedated so you never realize there are better men out there.”
Sharon, 28, who was a victim of excessive alcohol consumption and now campaigns against violence against women and girls, accused James of not treating the issue with “the seriousness it deserves”.
The influencer said Mirror: ‘To address this issue effectively, systemic changes must come from the top.
Love Island’s Sharon Gaffka slammed James Cleverly after he made a joke about giving his wife a date rape drug.
The Home Secretary, 54, made the ill-advised comments at a Downing Street reception where he told guests that “a little bit of Rohypnol in your drink every night” was “not really illegal if it’s just a little bit”, reported the Sunday Mirror.
In a tweet, Sharon added: “If you were my husband, the only thing you would have any use for Christmas is divorce papers.” Disgusting.’
‘While the Home Secretary’s recent initiatives to combat the increases are recognised, they do not meet activists’ requests. Along with insensitive jokes, he sends the message that the matter is not taken seriously.
‘During the festive season, incidents of domestic abuse increase, particularly against women. It is disappointing that the Home Secretary does not appear to recognize the seriousness of domestic abuse and the importance of treating it with the seriousness it deserves.
In a tweet, Sharon added: “If you were my husband, the only thing you would have any use for Christmas is divorce papers.” Disgusting.’
Sharon has previously spoken about how she hit her head on a toilet and was found trapped behind a closed cubicle door after her drink was interfered with while celebrating a friend’s birthday.
She said two male paramedics attended but they passed her off as someone who had been “drinking excessively” rather than being the victim of a puncture.
Recalling the incident and addressing the new crackdown on Good Morning Britain today, he said: “One of the things that is really important with the new measures announced today is that you need staff who can stand up for people who are in a vulnerable situation “.
“I couldn’t speak at all, I was completely unconscious and if my friends had also been attacked, no one would have been able to defend us.
“If there had been a test kit available to me or our friends, we would have known what glass it was, we could have had that drink and cleaned it.
‘It’s not always obvious. There have been many cases where people have tried to go down the criminal prosecution route and trying to use CCTV as a form of evidence or it has not been very clear or sometimes places are too afraid to provide CCTV.
“It’s not always as obvious as someone literally tampering with your drink.”
Sharon has previously said she used testimonies from other victims to meet her MP David Wantage to discuss what she believes can be implemented to help victims of the attacks.
James has apologized for joking about giving his wife a date-rape drug every night, just hours after announcing a crackdown on drugs.
James met his wife Susie at university and the couple have two children.
Conversations at Downing Street receptions are generally understood to be “off the record”, but the Sunday Mirror decided to break that convention because of James’ position and the issue.
James’ allies said his comments were made in a private setting but he acknowledges they were inappropriate.
James previously described tackling violence against women and girls as a “personal priority” and called the rise in violence a “wicked” crime.
A Home Secretary spokesman said: “In what was always understood to be a private conversation, James, the Home Secretary, in addressing the attacks made what was clearly intended to be a tongue-in-cheek joke, for which he apologises.”
Senior Labor officials criticized James’ “appalling” comments.
Alex Davies-Jones, shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding, said: “It was a joke” is the most trite excuse in the book and no one believes it.
‘If the Home Secretary is serious about tackling attacks and violence against women and girls, then that requires a total cultural change. “The ‘jokes’ must end and they must start from the top.”
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Drug use is a worrying and serious crime which is having a devastating impact on the lives of young women.”
‘It is truly incredible that the Home Secretary made such appalling jokes on the same day the Government announced a new policy on increases.
‘It suggests that despite being the cabinet minister ultimately responsible for tackling violence against women and girls, he does not understand how serious this is. Victims understandably wonder if they can trust him to take this vile crime seriously.”
James has now apologized for joking about giving his wife Susie a date night rape drug, just hours after announcing a crackdown on drug use.
Ministers have pledged to modernize the language used in the legislation to make clear that surging is a crime and announced a raft of other measures as part of a crackdown.
But they stopped short of making fortification (when someone puts drugs in another person’s drink or directly into their body without their knowledge or consent) a specific crime.
Between May 2022 and April 2023, there were 6,732 reports of needlesticks in England and Wales, including 957 reported incidents of needle sticks.
On average, police receive 561 reports of increases a month, and the majority are made by women, usually following incidents in or near bars and nightclubs, according to a Home Office report.