‘Drink spiking is rife. My daughter’s drink was spiked not so long ago and she nearly died. Some girls sadly do.’ These are the heartfelt words of Peach Piche who has found a solution to prevent drink spiking.
Drink spiking is NOT a nightclub or barman issue, it is happening at house parties, in restaurants and pubs and even at corporate golf days, explains Peach Piche, who’s daughter’s drink was spiked, with awful effects.
‘Don’t ever assume you’re safe because you don’t drink alcohol! Spikers don’t know or care what’s in your glass.’ Peach says her daughter Skyla’s drink was spiked at an upmarket local restaurant fairly early in the evening. The effects on her were horrendous – physically, mentally and emotionally. It took her two months to recover and for the blood in her eyes to subside. More importantly, she could have died.
‘Unfortunately, some girls have died; others have been assaulted, robbed, raped and murdered. And, it is not only young girls being spiked … we have up to eight people a week – even women in their sixties – reaching out to share their stories and it is horrifying to see what a problem it is.’
Peach’s philosophy is that everything in life happens for a reason. You can choose to be a “victor” or a “victim” so she chose to partner with Skyla to see how they could turn the ‘mess’ into a ‘message’ and prevent incidents like this from happening to any other women.
‘We founded Drinkerbell – an initiative designed to raise awareness around the issue of drink spiking that is packaged with a potentially life-saving product – a scrunchie that turns into a drinks’ cover to minimise risk.’
Girls can wear the scrunchie in their hair, or on their wrist. Then, when ordering a drink, simply open the secret compartment in the scrunchie and slide out the iquid resistant drinks cover, and the eco-friendly, reusable silicone straw.
This is a visual and physical deterrent for any would-be spiker as they are more likely to target someone with an open drink plus the cover makes it impossible to deposit drops or tablets into. Being a project close to her heart, Peach insisted that Drinkerbell do more than just solve a problem and protect women.
‘It had to tick two other boxes: empowering women, which is why all manufacturing is done by women who have been upskilled and employed by Embocraft Trust (a non profit skills traing centre in Botha’s Hill), as well as have a ‘give back’ arm which is why a portion of all sales goes to the Jes Foord Foundation to sponsor trauma counselling for women who have been raped.’
What started off as a mother-daughter project, has now become a platform for Peach and Skyla to use their voices to raise awareness, make a difference and save young girls! Their dream is for the project to become a movement, #stopdrinkspiking!
Drinkerbells come in a variety of colours and designs. They cost R145 each which includes the liquid resistant drink cover and silicone re-usable straw, which fold into the scrunchie. Order online at www.drinkerbell.co.za
