‘Guys would say, “Oh, I’ve never been with an Indian girl before,” and, once, seven rugby lads grabbed my arms and lifted my top up at a student night. One forced himself on me and stuck his tongue in my mouth.’
Jaz Sansoye graduated in July from Exeter Uni and her story is just one of many reasons why University of Exeter Students’ Guild has just set up #NeverOK, a campaign against sexual harassment that has now gone global.
Inspired by Manchester Uni’s #WeGetIt, and Washington’s ‘It’s On Us’, the #NeverOK campaign video featured rugby boys, lecturers, tutors and David Tennant (he was filming Broadchurch at the time, so popped in to lend a hand), and a strong message that co-creator Rachael Gillies, president of the the Guild, hopes other campuses will emulate – that sexual harassment, in any form, is never OK. Or, rather, #NeverOK.
From the Nottingham students chanting, ‘Now she’s dead but not forgotten, dig her up and f*ck her rotten’ to the NUS survey that found two thirds of those asked had heard rape or assault jokes on campus, it’s pretty clear that ‘lad culture’ and the rape ‘banter’ that comes with it are now rife across campuses.
How many times has someone catcalled you, wolf-whistled, or grabbed your arse? How many times have you kept quiet for fear of being told you’re overreacting?
‘Sexual harassment should be defined personally,’ says Rachael Gillies, who has been co-spearheading the campaign. ‘Catcalling, inappropriate jokes and chants, we want to empower our students to call it out. They feel they can’t do that because if they did, they’d be judged, but we want to create a safe environment.’
#NeverOK was sparked by a conversation Rachael had with her lecturer – he’d become worried about things he’d overheard, tales from nights out and stories about girls feeling uncomfortable walking down roads either late at night or in broad daylight.
‘He was asking some questions about student culture that resonated with the things I’ve discussed with my friends,’ says Rachael. ‘I’ve had my arse grabbed a few times on nights out, I’ve been catcalled and I’ve been referred to as a slut. It’s all becoming more normalised – these things can be referred to as banter, but you should self define what’s funny and what isn’t.’
Using her influence as President of the University of Exeter Students’ Guild, Rachael decided to team up with her friend and fellow vice president, to do something about it.
Because something needed to be done. ‘Sexual harassment is rife in Exeter,’ Jaz told The Debrief. ‘There was a point where I just didn’t feel comfortable on campus. It’s a culture that runs deeper than you can imagine – the comments you hear just walking around are horrific. You’ve got to target the source, not just put the onus on the victim.’
Ben Street, the Vice President of Education at the Guild, is keen to point out that this is exactly what #NeverOK plans to do. ‘There are cases were guys are made to feel pressured, or uncomfortable, and we want to tackle that,’ he told The Debrief. ‘Males on campus feeling like they have to act or be or look a certain way is a big part of it. Most people would assume it just affects women, but it can affect men too.’
Such is the insidious nature of the so-called ‘lad culture’ infecting all social stratas of universities across the UK. Defined by students recently surveyed by the NUS as ‘a group’ or ‘pack’ mentality linked to activities such as sport and heavy alcohol consumption, and ‘banter which was often sexist, misogynist and homophobic’, the most focused-on by-product is sexual harassment.
Another by-product is, however, homophobia and the general pressure put on other men to either join in, or be a ‘good lad’. After speaking to a broad range of students across various campuses, the NUS found that ‘lad culture’ was thought to be particularly influential in the social side of university life.
‘Extracurricular activities and sports in particular were singled out as key sites, and it was reported that sexism in such environments could spill over into sexual harassment and humiliation,’ it said.
READ MORE: Banter Is Just A Way Of Silencing Rape Culture On Campus
It’s good, then, that #NeverOK acknowledges this need to get key players (not just on the sports field – we’re talking key social players) across the student body on board – the video features two guys in sports gear speaking out against sexual harassment. A huge part of the campaign is to get students to take ownership of the hashtag and all it entails themselves.
‘That’s the aim of the video, and why the Washington campaign is such a good model,’ says Ben. ‘If we can get it coming from all high profile members of the student body – our sports teams, societies and minority groups, as well as the university – then we can make a change. We are trying to permeate all levels here.’
Cleverly, they’ve got all the societies (including the sports teams) to put out pictures of support via social media. ‘We’re working closely with the Athletics Union, and all the societies, because we want the #NeverOK message to come from everyone, not just us,’ Rachael explains. ‘We don’t want this to lose momentum.’
They accept it’ll take time to change such an ingrained culture, but believe it’s worth the efforts now – at university where misogyny can become accepted.
‘I think they are taking a step in the right direction,’ says Jaz. ‘It’s difficult because you’re kind of having to break away years of misogyny and that’ll take a long time, but I don’t know what else they can do.'’
Like the builder who wolf-whistles a girl only to be told by his mate, ‘Hey, show a bit of respect!’ (yes, this was witnessed first-hand by someone in The Debrief office), change won’t happen unless the shift occurs within the social groups.
The rugby boys, the rowing team, that gang of dudes who are always the loudest ones in the uni bar need to stop making rape jokes themselves because nobody’s going to be able to change sexual harassment culture until they do.
‘'[The campaign] demonstrates the power of the hashtag. I’ve heard people using the hashtag in passing, saying, “Oh that’s hashtag #NeverOK”, and loads of people are using it on Twitter too,’ says Ben. ‘It’s something that disseminates across groups.’
While they’re keen to delineate between tackling rape (‘That’s best left to the police’) and lowering the level of sexual harassment, there is also the hope of a knock-on effect. ‘We want to create a culture of respect and responsibility, and we would hope that it filters through to the more serious crimes,’ explains Rachael.
And Jaz, despite being unconvinced that the campaign will solve the problem anytime soon, agrees that it’s a positive step. ‘I’d have supported it if it had launched when I was at uni, I think it’s good that something is being done! I didn’t feel safe when I was there, and we need to stop this problem although it’s difficult to know how to go about it, and what else you can do.’
So now it’s down to the rest of you. Tweet your support via the #NeverOK hashtag and, if you’re a student, maybe have a think about following Exeter’s example?
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.