By: Levi Grayshon, Manchester, England, SSH Correspondent
Ah, university. The time in a person’s life when she or he is dropped off at their university halls by worried parents, armed with nothing but Ikea bed linen and a bottle of value vodka, ready to tackle student life. But often, for female students, that first week can prove a tough one.
It’s no secret that “LAD Culture” is rife amongst UK universities, something which I myself have noticed becoming more and more prominent as I progressed through my three years at university. In my first year, I was rarely bothered on a night out with friends. During Freshers’ Week (orientation week) my third year, however, it was a completely different story.
During “One Night,” a popular event run by the university, I was in queue and a group of men harassed me by taking photographs of me, and mocked me when I requested that they deleted them. Inside the club, they found me and groped me, calling me “crazy” when I told them to leave me alone, and I was fed the line “he’s a footballer, he does what he wants” – a line which I heard them repeat to another girl in the club.
Later in the night, another LAD-type groped me, and shouted aggressively in my face when I pushed him away and told him to leave me alone, which, naturally, his friends found hilarious. All of this happened within the space of around an hour and a half, which caused me to leave early, furious and disappointed.
Events like these are not uncommon, and, going by what has been uncovered by Laura Bates from the Everyday Sexism Project lately, pretty mild. Female students have reported being pinned against railings, being rated by their appearances in nightclub queues, and being told that “being spiked is lucky.”
Even worse than this, some universities are fuelling this behaviour. Recently, Cardiff Metropolitan University came under fire for using an image of a student wearing a t-shirt with a rape joke written on it in order to promote a club night. Last year, a pamphlet promoted by my own university was put under scrutiny after perpetrating misogynist abuse towards women who engaged in one night stands, claiming that they were “dirty,” yet it applauded the male students who engaged in such activities.
As reported in The Independent last year, universities also hold club nights with sexist themes, such as “Geeks and Sluts” and “CEO’s and Corporate Hoes”. The same article reported that 68% of female students had been sexually harassed whilst at university – are sexist club nights to blame for this high percentage?
On the other hand, some universities are doing their best to combat the harassment suffered by their female students. Edinburgh University banned the Robin Thicke song “Blurred Lines”, which has been criticised widely for its lyrics that “promote non-consenual sex.” Four more universities (Kingston, Derby, Leeds and West Scotland) swiftly followed suit.
Additionally, numerous universities are joining the NUS Zero Tolerance to Sexual Harassment campaign to work toward becoming a safer place for female students. I hope many more will follow suit.
Levi graduated from university with a degree in Film and TV screenwriting this summer. As a freelance writer, she has been writing for The F-Word and Gamer-UK. You can follow her rants and ramblings on Twitter, @part_heart.
