Boycott of Nightclubs in response to Spiking cases

On the 27th and 28th October there will be a boycott of nightclubs organised by GirlsNightIn in response to the recent increase in spikings. In Edinburgh this will take place on the 28th of October. Femsoc has collaborated with GirsNightIn to promote this as well as organising a protest on Saturday 30th October outside Cowgate and the Scottish Parliament to highlight the issue again to the clubs and the low prosecution rates for spikings to Parliament. It has surprised me how quickly this has become a nationwide movement which is both powerful and saddening to see indicating the extent to which this is unfortunately a problem.

The initiative came to fruition after the recent increase in spikings following universities returning. However, it has become especially concerning as there have been multiple reports in Edinburgh, as well as in other cities, that students are being spiked with needles. This adds the concern of contracting HIV – a girl in Nottingham has reportedly contracted HIV already having been spiked in a club. This is a very real fear for students, especially women (who are often, but now always the target) and it seems absurd to me that the risk of contracting a chronic virus now exists when going out to have a good time with friends. Advice has started to be shared on social media on what to do if you think you might have contracted HIV. It seems so crazy it seems almost incomprehensible. This issue has become even creepier in the last few days following reports of women being spiked with a needle and left with notes saying “welcome to the HIV club” or had rings put on their fingers with the text “cry baby” engraved in it.

The most sickening aspect of this issue for me, apart from the obvious safety concerns, is that the needle spiking seems to be normalising “normal” spiking (AKA without a needle and with a pill). That suddenly doesn’t seem as terrifying now when the risk of contracting HIV now exists.

It has without a doubt put me, as well as many other women, off clubbing for the time being, at the very least in the clubs where the cases are most concerning. This is saddening in itself – it feels like yet another curb on women’s freedoms that is just accepted to some extent for us to keep ourselves safe. Just like we accept that walking at home in the dark across the Meadows is a dangerous idea. At the same time, it has highlighted to me how lucky I am that I am not a first year in this current climate. At least I know that if I did decide to go clubbing, I have friends who know me well, I can trust, and have my back.

EdiAnonymous conducted a survey of where most women in Edinburgh spiked. It then published the data from this survey which showed that 25% of spikings had taken place at WhyNot nightclub with one survivor having been spiked by a bartender. Following this WhyNot put out a post basically dissolving themselves of any responsibility for these staistics. Sadly, I am not surprised by these numbers from Whynot nightclub having had my own experiences with their bouncer, who did not seem to care about safety and were more concerned with the power they held over guests. There are also reports now emerging of them laughing at women who have been spiked rather than providing them with some help. It is still mindboggling to me that people, including Whynot nightclub, fail to believe these testimonies. What motive would anyone have to lie or make these up? Those coming forward are not gaining anything by doing this, other than raising awareness of the extent of the issue.

It is however empowering to see more and more women coming forward and sharing their experiences in the post #metoo era especially following the death of Sarah Everard. I question therefore whether there is an actual increase in spiking this year or whether there are just more women feeling empowered enough to talk about this issue. It was certainly an issue last year at Pollock Halls with Chancellors having a reputation for having a group of boys in it who spiked girls in order to assault them. So heartbreakingly, for many women this issue is not new, but it is powerful to see more women finally feeling strong enough to use their voice.

Femsoc has worked hard with clubs to try recommend to them what they could do to make the experience safer for all students. Following conversations with the Feminist Society and the string of bad press for Whynot it does now seem to be implementing more security measures, so hopefully the pressure on clubs in the last few weeks will lead to real tangible changes. The only club that comes to mind, that of its own accord seemed to have been proactive at taking responsibility for their role in this issue is Subway. Hopefully, the boycott this week will also add further pressure and once again highlight the depth of this issue to the nightclubs. However, from a cynical perspective, as much as a nationwide boycott will be powerful and is a sign of hope, I question to what extent it will have an impact. At the end of the day, sadly the main concern of the clubs is making money, especially after the pandemic and one night in from women around the country will make little difference to their overall profits. There has therefore also been advice circulating that one should email the clubs and flood their inboxes to further highlight the issue to them.

However, whilst nightclubs taking further measures are good preventative measure, they are generally not the perpetrators of the spiking. The only way for this issue to be truly tackled, like so many other women’s safety issues, is through a systemic cultural and societal change regarding men’s behaviour. This is achieved, I believe through education and conversation. Our very own president, Amy Life for example spoke on Radio 4 last week to help raise the profile of the issue and the concerns women have. It is an issue that all men need to be involved in, as much as all men are not perpetrators of violence against women, there are enough men for safety to be a very real and daily concern for women. So, in an ideal world one would hope that all men would look themselves in the mirror and ask themselves what they can do to better support women. Whilst not the only indicator of the level of support of men for women surrounding this issue, it has been uplifting to see more men sharing their support for women on this issue of spiking on social media. One can only desperately cling to the hope that things will change in the short term in terms of measures taking by clubs but in the long term that there will be a definitive cultural change in society regarding issues of women’s safety.