Rose Hitchens
Amid the surge of incidents involving women being spiked via injection at nightclubs, nationwide boycotts of clubs have been planned to raise awareness for women’s safety on nights out.
Over the past week, social media has been rife with women sharing stories of themselves after experiencing being spiked via injection on nights out. Women have reported experiencing symptoms common of drink spiking and then waking up the next day to discover small needle marks on various parts of their body.
In response to these horrific incidents, a campaign has been launched ‘#GirlsNightIn’ which aims to boycott clubs in an attempt to raise awareness for the safety of women on nights out.
Acting as a play, on the phrase ‘girls night in,’ the campaign is urging students at universities across the UK- whether they have been a victim spiking or not- to take a stand against nightclubs and bars to make sure they take the recent epidemic of spiking seriously.
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#GirlsNightIn Social Media
The #GirlsNightIn pages are currently acting as the most up to date sources on the recent epidemic of spiking, sharing various petitions activating for the increase of club security, and sharing the stories of victims who have been subjected to spiking via injection on nights out over the past week.
“This is NOT a message to stay at home. This is asking our students to protest against clubs and bars. They are not responding to our complains, so we must make them.”
Students all around the country at various universities, including Nottingham, Oxford, Leeds, and Edinburgh, have set up Instagram pages to spread the word, amassing hundreds of thousands of follows in a mere few days. The Instagram page for ‘Girls Night in Nottingham’ has amassed almost 10,000 followers since the page was set up on October 18th, representing the widespread support that measures against spiking have garnered.
“This is NOT a message to stay at home,” the ‘girlsnightinnottingham’ page cleared up in a recent post “This is asking our students to protest against the clubs and bars…They are not responding to our complains, so we must make them.”
Students who have organised these boycotts are part of a wider discourse taking place at the moment surrounding the recent surge of spiking’s in nightclubs at the moment.
“The most messed up thing about the horrific rise in cases of spiking via injection is that there is literally NOTHING we can do now to protect ourselves,” One Twitter user wrote.
Another user expressed their fears over going on nights out, stating that “I’m never usually scared to go out when things happen but I am petrified to go out whilst this injection spiking is going on, its so dangerous & vile.”
Police Response
In response to allegations of spiking, Nottinghamshire police have opened an investigation into the multiple reports of spiking’s which have been administered through an injection that have been reported over recent weeks. Supt Kathryn Craner stated that these attacks are “distinctively different from anything we have seen previously as victims have disclosed a physical scratch type sensation before feeling very unwell.”
Similarly, Police Scotland have confirmed they are launching an investigation into the multiple reports of injection spiking incidents which have been reported to police and spread across social media in recent weeks.
#GirlsNightIn protests boycotting nightclubs and bars will take place across various dates nationwide from Monday 25th October to Wednesday 3rd November.
If you think you, or someone you know, has been spiked either through drink or injection and is experiencing symptoms of spiking, please visit your local GP surgery, police, or hospital immediately.
Featured image courtesy of Long Truong on Unsplash. No changes or alterations were made to this image. Image license can be found here.
Rose Hitchens
Rose is a third-year student at Nottingham University currently studying Politics and American Studies. Apart from writing for EJ, she also writes for Impact Magazine and is interesting in writing about a wide range of topics such as music, entertainment, and current affairs. Outside of journalism, her hobbies include running, reading, and collecting records.