Love Island victim Sharon Gaffka slams Home Secretary James Cleverly over tasteless Rohypnol joke – hours after announcing crackdown on date-rape drug

Love Island’s Sharon Gaffka has slammed James Cleverly after he joked he gave his wife a date-rape drug.

The 54-year-old Home Secretary made the offhand remark at a reception in Downing Street, where he told female guests that “a little bit of Rohypnol in their drink every night” “isn’t really illegal if it’s just a little is not.” On Sunday, Mirror reported. .

James also laughed that the secret to a long marriage is to make sure the partner is “someone who is always slightly deaf, so she can never understand that there are better men.”

Sharon, 28, a victim of drink abuse and now a campaigner against violence against women and girls, accused James of not treating the issue “with the seriousness it deserves”.

The influencer told The Mirror: “To effectively address this issue, systemic change needs to come from the top.”

The 54-year-old Home Secretary made the offhand remark at a reception in Downing Street, where he told female guests that “a little bit of Rohypnol in their drink every night” “isn’t really illegal if it’s just a little is not.” On Sunday, Mirror reported.

In a tweet, Sharon added: “If you were my husband all you’d get for Christmas is divorce papers. ‘Terrible.’

“While the Home Secretary’s recent initiatives to tackle rises are recognised, they do not meet activists’ demands.” Combined with insensitive jokes, this sends the message that the matter is not being taken seriously.

“Domestic violence is more common during the holidays, especially against women. “It is disappointing that the Home Secretary does not seem to recognize the seriousness of domestic violence and the importance of treating it with the seriousness it deserves.”

In a tweet, Sharon added: “If you were my husband all you’d get for Christmas is divorce papers. ‘Terrible.’

Sharon previously told how she hit her head on a toilet and was found behind a locked cell door after her drink was tampered with while celebrating a friend’s birthday.

She said two male paramedics were present but portrayed them as someone who had “drank too much” rather than a victim of a needlestick injury.

Reflecting on the incident and addressing the new approach on Good Morning Britain today, she said: “One of the things that is really important with the new measures announced today is that you need people who can stand up for people who is in a vulnerable situation.” .

“I couldn’t speak at all, I was completely unconscious, and if my friends were also infected, no one would be able to stand up for us.”

“If a test kit had been provided to me or our friends, we would have known what glass it was, we could have taken the drink and had a swab done.”

“It is not always clear. There were many cases where people tried to go the law enforcement route and use CCTV footage as evidence, but it wasn’t entirely clear or sometimes places were too scared to provide CCTV footage.

“It’s not always clear when someone is literally tampering with your drink.”

Sharon previously said she used other victims’ statements to speak to her MP David Wantage to discuss what she thought could be done to help push victims up.

James apologized for joking about giving his wife a date-rape drug every night, just hours after announcing a crackdown on police.

James met his wife Susie at university and the couple have two children.

Conversations at Downing Street receptions are normally considered “off the record”, but the Sunday Mirror decided to break this convention because of James’ position and the subject matter.

Allies of James said his comments were made in a private setting, but he admits they were inappropriate.

James has previously described tackling violence against women and girls as a “personal priority” and described the increase as a “perverse” crime.

A spokesman for the Home Secretary said: “In what was always regarded as a private conversation, James, the Home Secretary who dealt with the surges, made what was clearly intended as a tongue-in-cheek -choose joke – for which he apologizes.” ‘

Senior Labor figures criticized James’ “appalling” comments.

Alex Davies-Jones, shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding, said: “It was a joke” is the dumbest excuse in the book and nobody believes it.

“If the Home Secretary is serious about tackling the rise in violence against women and girls, it will require a complete culture change. “The ‘gossip’ needs to stop and start at the top.”

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Spiking is a disturbing and serious crime which has a devastating impact on the lives of young women.”

“It is truly unbelievable that the Home Secretary made such hideous jokes on the same day that the government announced a new top-up policy.”

“This suggests that, despite the fact that as minister he is ultimately responsible for tackling violence against women and girls, he does not understand how serious it is.” Victims will understandably wonder if they can trust him “To take this heinous crime. serious.”

James has now apologized for joking about giving his wife Susie a date-rape drug every night, just hours after announcing a police crackdown.

Ministers have pledged to modernize the wording of the legislation to make it clear that nails are a crime and have announced a range of other measures as part of the crackdown.

But they stopped short of making spiking — when someone puts drugs into someone else’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 needlestick incidents.

According to a Home Office report, police receive an average of 561 peak reports per month, with the majority from women following incidents in or near bars and nightclubs.