After spending a whole academic year with restricted nightlife thanks to lockdown regulations, many students were looking forward to the reopening of clubs. However, recent reports of spiking at popular places across the country have led to students feeling unsafe and unsure about going out.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council released figures saying there were almost 200 spiking cases nationally in August and September alone; Reports have also been made of individuals being spiked with needles.
Students are calling for more accountability from venues, both to prevent spiking from happening and to provide greater support for victims after cases, but some say they have been slow to act. Campaigns have been appearing both nationally and on a local level, especially in student areas, to hold venues accountable and bring meaningful change.
Girls Night In, a nationwide campaign to boycott venues, has been established, with Instagram pages for cities across the country being set up. @girlsnightinnottingham has over 12k followers on Instagram, and called for a boycott of Nottingham nightclubs on the 27th of October. @brumnightin also called for a boycott of Birmingham clubs on the 27th, and has since called for indefinite boycotts of specific clubs, including Rosies, which allegedly blocked accounts who commented asking for change on the club’s Instagram posts.
Venues across the country have announced they will be using the ‘Ask for Angela’ scheme. People who feel unsafe can tell bar staff they are looking for ‘Angela’, and the staff will help them by calling a taxi, the police, or a friend. The code was established so those in unsafe situations would not be putting themselves at further risk by openly asking for help, but some feel that the hyper-visibility of the campaign recently defeats the purpose of the code. A reporter for The Metro tested ‘Ask for Angela’ at bars across London which claimed to use the scheme and found staff were often unaware of the code’s meaning.
A parliamentary petition has also been set up asking to make searches on entry to nightclubs a legal requirement. The petition now has 173,000 signatures and the topic was debated in parliament, although the Government has stated that there are no plans to put this requirement into law.
Alongside more thorough searches, anti-spiking campaigns have called for availability of drinks covers which make drink spiking more difficult, medics on site who are equipped to treat spiking victims, and better training for staff to identify and support victims.
In Sheffield, Claim Back West Street was set up to establish safe spaces on West Street, introduce anti-spiking measures in the street’s bars, and bring street volunteers to the city. After support from local police forces, university officials, and MPs, the campaign announced on Instagram that it has been successful in its goals.
If you want to take action against spiking, support boycotts, write to your MP, and listen to victims. This is a scary time, but by holding venues accountable and calling for large-scale change, perhaps we will feel safe on nights out again.