Alcohol and legitimate victimhood: Analysing Reddit posts to understand perceptions of alcohol's role in drink spiking and sexual violence

This study highlights how gendered expectations and societal attitudes toward alcohol consumption reinforce victim-blaming and undermine the credibility of drink spiking victims. Addressing these structural inequities requires shifting the focus from victims' behaviour to perpetrators and systemic failures. We recommend re-imagining alcohol's role in drink spiking, facilitating sexual violence and denying victims' legitimacy, and interventions that go beyond restrictive notions of femininity and masculinity.