Newsletter: January 2004: Ask the Alliance
By
Kate Woodrow
Dear Alliance,
I recently received an e-mail warning me that rapists are combining common date rape drugs like "roofies" with a drug called Progesterex that permanently sterilizes a female victim. The e-mail described the drug as a sterilization pill used for horses. Is this true?
-Pat, Staten Island
Dear Pat,
This urban legend is making quick rounds over the Internet. The so-called “Progesterex” drug is fictitious, as are the incidents “reported” in these e-mails, to the best of our knowledge.
Go Ask Alice!, the health question and answer Internet service produced by Alice!, Columbia University’s Health Education Program (www.goaskalice.org), researched the so-called drug. They found that “no evidence of the existence of such a drug was substantiated by veterinarians, pharmacists, and researchers,” at agencies and institutions including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, American Veterinary Medical Association and the Cornell University Equine and Farm Animal Hospital. “These experts state that the one equine medication taken orally that tangentially relates to the stated purpose of ‘Progesterex’ is used to temporarily prevent mares from coming into heat (estrus).”
Many drugs can be and have been used to sexually assault women and men. GHB, Rohypnol (“roofies”) and alcohol are the most commonly known. Hoaxes such as the “Progesterex” myth spread undue fear amongst women.
Go Ask Alice! challenges the hoaxers: “whose image, sense of security, and peace of mind will be sacrificed next year just for laughs? [The hoax’s] creator(s) might be reading this, laughing, and basking in his/her/their fifteen minutes of Internet fame. If so, there are some other things you might try when you next find yourself with some time on your hands: teach disadvantaged kids to read; volunteer at a soup kitchen; raise money for earthquake victims; or, just take a nap.”
I could not agree more.
Sincerely,
Kate Woodrow
Outreach and Education Associate
Kate Woodrow is the Outreach and Education Associate at The New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault.
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