We all know what sort of raucous behaviour occurs on a student night out. A combination of alcohol, raging hormones and everyone looking dolled up (at least at the start of the night) can result in some pretty questionable goings-on from both guys and girls. And it’s easy to become quite blasé about it.
Recently my friends and I were doing the usual recollection of a night out the following morning. A comment from one of the girls led to a series of shocking revelations from each of us. She described how she’d been waiting for a drink at the bar when she felt someone touch her behind. She chose to ignore it, hoping the guilty man would go away. But he did it a second time. She politely asked him to stop it, but when he did it a third time she (quite justifiably) shouted at him to leave her alone. He reacted angrily, telling her to ‘calm down’. This story prompted each of us to retell similar incidents that had happened to us in the past, and we realised as a group that we’d all at one point or another been a victim of sexual assault in a Nottingham nightclub.
Let’s establish some facts first. The Metropolitan Police define sexual assault as ‘intentionally [touching] another person, the touching is sexual and the person does not consent’. It’s easy to forget that sexual assault is not restricted to the most commonly discussed forms such as rape. Any kind of sexual touching that you do not consent to is against the law – it is a punishable offence. So why do so many of us accept that it’s simply a fact of life, and something you have to put up with in Nottingham’s nightclubs?
One factor is that we often don’t make full use of the protection that nightclubs offer. Bouncers are there for a reason, and it is their job to make sure that every person in the venue is safe. However, it often doesn’t occur to a victim of sexual assault to report the incident to a bouncer.
Additionally, circumstances can make it difficult to identify the perpetrator. Her Campus spoke to one victim who described her experience: ‘I was walking down the stairs and a guy passed me coming the opposite direction. As he passed he blatantly and intentionally put his hands on my chest, but by the time I’d even realised it had happened he was long gone’. Often, by the time the victim has managed to find a bouncer to complain to, the perpetrator has been lost in the club crowds.
It is as if the normal social codes that we live by in day-to-day life are invalidated in nightclubs. Being told to ‘calm down’ because you object to someone touching you sexually, without your consent, suggests that there’s an expectation that everyone on a night out is there to be sexually objectified. Forgotten are the other pleasures we can get from clubbing: enjoying spending time with friends, dancing, drinking and meeting new people.
So how bad is this problem for Nottingham students? Firstly, it’s widespread and showing no sign of dying down. It can certainly happen to men as well as women, and this is no less serious a problem. Secondly, it is accepted. While we may object when someone inappropriately touches us, it is generally seen as expected. It is not viewed as sexual assault, and so these law-breaking and immoral acts are normalised. And lastly, the effects both on the victim and more widely on society are of definite significance. It is degrading, embarrassing and frightening to be touched against your will. And the more that people think it is acceptable to behave this way in a nightclub, the more likely they are to feel comfortable doing it in other places, at other times.
Some advice:
· If someone in a nightclub touches you in a way that you wouldn’t be comfortable with on the street, don’t accept it.
· Don’t think twice about finding a bouncer to complain to. It is most definitely their job to stop this sort of thing happening.
· If you can’t find the perpetrator, it doesn’t mean your complaint is futile. Try your best to describe them to the bouncer, and keep an eye out for them throughout the night.
Sources
http://content.met.police.uk/Article/Definitions/1400008450549/1400008450549
Edited by Luisa Parnell