Following an increase in the number of reported spikings at clubs and bars, a campaign has been launched across social media to boycott clubs.

The campaign, named Girls Night In, was started by students in order to raise awareness around spiking and to push nightclubs to implement more stringent prevention methods.

Over the past week, reports have flooded the internet of women being spiked via injections. Although it might seem like something that is not affecting The University of Birmingham several students have taken to Fab ‘n’ Fresh to report being spiked via in injection.

One UoB student summarised the fear currently felt by women, saying that: ‘clubbing is supposed to be about letting loose with friends, and enjoying being young and carefree. The recent news that students have been spiked by injection is truly terrifying in several respects. Firstly, the fact that these needles are probably unclean and could possibly lead to serious infections, such as HIV.’

The student also discussed their shock at the fact that people are able to bring needles into a club and stated that the news stories surrounding spiking via injection makes them ‘upset and scared that the best part of [their] uni life is potentially a life-threatening experience.’

Students are fighting against this through the boycotts taking place this week. There are several different dates for all of the cities taking part, however, many cities are taking part this Wednesday (27^th October) including Birmingham.

Those who attend UoB will know that every Wednesday is Sports Night at Fab ‘n’ Fresh which is extremely popular amongst students. However, many UoB sports teams released statements on Instagram to inform people that their society would not be attending Sports Night on 27^th October in solidarity with the campaign. Following a significant number of sports teams deciding to boycott the club night, the Guild of Students released a statement on 21^st October on the Fab ‘n’ Fresh Facebook Group to express their support for the planned boycott and announce that they would be cancelling Sports Night. You can read the full statement here.

Many students were unimpressed with the Guild’s statement. Third year student Cerys Gardner believes that whilst ‘it is good that the Guild has addressed the issue […] cancelling the event undermines the intended impact of the boycott and measures. Cerys also expressed their concern about the Guild viewing the fact including in their statement that only ‘UoB students and their guests’ can attend Sports Night and Fab ‘as a safety measure given that sexual assaults are committed by students at UoB.’

It is not just current UoB students concerned by the Guild’s statement. One alumnus of UoB critiqued the Guild for their ‘blanket statements’ on the matter and said it appears like ‘they aren’t interested in student safety’ and are only ‘trying to do the bare minimum so it looks like they’re trying.’ The ex-student also argued that ‘offering drink spiking covers but not making them mandatory […] seems like it’s passing the blame along’ as ‘if someone forgets to ask for one and then gets spiked, someone is just going to say they were offered.’

The Guild also claimed that they ‘have always implement strong measures’ to ensure student safety, including providing anti-spiking training. However, two staff members working at the Guild contacted Redbrick to state that this is false. One student worker who has worked for the Guild for three years said that they ‘have never received anti spiking training’ and that they have ‘never received anything on what to do about spiking.’

Another employee who has worked at the Guild for two years has claimed that their training at the beginning of the academic year did not cover what to do if someone is spiked and how to prevent spikings from happening. They also claimed that the ‘Ask for Angela’ policy was only mentioned in the training ‘because another member of staff quizzed’ the manager, and in their previous year of employment, it was not spoken about in the training at all. In terms of the anti-spiking bottle covers available at Joe’s, the staff were not ‘told what they were, it had to be fed down the chain of command.’ The employee also suggested that Sports Night was ‘cancelled purely because entire sports teams and societies were boycotting the night, not because women were’ and that the Guild’s interest in the campaign was more economical as ‘they realised they would just lose money running the event because either no one would turn up or those who did would be few and far between.’

The Guild has been contacted for a statement.

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