1* Assistant Professor, Soa National Institute Of Law, Siksha 'O' Anusandhan (Deemed To Be University), Bhubaneswar. Email: maithilichaudhury@soa.ac.in
2 Senior Professor, Soa National Institute Of Law, Siksha 'O' Anusandhan (Deemed To Be University), Bhubaneswar. Email: prabirpattnaik@soa.ac.in
Drug-facilitated child sexual abuse (dfsa-csa) is an identified but not sufficiently appreciated aspect of sexual violence against minors, when a victim is used by consenting or resisting psychoactive drugs with a goal to render an individual incapable of making such decisions. The current work will be an attempt to give a socio-legal and empirical analysis of dfsa-csa based on prevalence patterns, substances involved, and offender dynamics and legal outcomes. The research design utilized a mixture of the quantitative analysis of a structured dataset of 200 cases and the qualitative analysis of the legal frameworks and the records of the case. The results obtained are that there were confirmed cases of abuse in around 85% and incapacitated victims in 88% of cases. Alcohol 45% became the most common drug with mixed drug use (25%), benzodiazepines (12%), and ghb/ ketamine (8%). The young people (13-17 years old) were defined as the most vulnerable group and more than 80% of the offenders were familiar to the victim. The statistical method showed that drug type and the occurrence of abuse have a significant relationship (p<0.05), and the positive correlator of the conviction outcome is toxicological evidence. The research also points out that there are some crucial gaps in the indian legal system such as the lack of direct acknowledgement of dfsa and poor forensic guidelines. The results highlight the severity of interventions in the form of integrated policy to be pursued, such as compulsory toxicological screening, legal changes, and improved forensic facilities. On the whole, the paper can be viewed as a contribution to a very small amount of empirical literature on the issues of dfsa-csa and form a baseline on the research and formulation of future policies.
Keywords: Drug-Facilitated Sexual Abuse, Child Sexual Abuse, Dfsa, Toxicology, Benzodiazepines, Alcohol, Ghb.
How To Cite This Article: Chaudhury M, Pattnaik Pk. Drug-Facilitated Child Sexual Abuse: An Empirical And Socio-Legal Inquiry Into Emerging Criminal Patterns. Int J Drug Deliv Technol. 2026;16(4):413. Doi: 10.25258/ijddt.16.4.40