Sarah Everard, Sabina Ness, and now... Students

By Emily Chen

Sarah Everard, Sabina Ness and an increasing number of students are (becoming) victims of violent behaviour and political inaction. As a result, there are/were an increasing number of grass roots campaigns to bring attention to the issue. Yet, there has been little tangible action from politicians to actively change the status quo.  

There have been an increasing number of news reports and viral social media anecdotes describing people being injected whilst clubbing. The National Police Chiefs Council has confirmed over 200 reports of spiking in the last two months. Many have assumed that this number is not representative of the real figure, with the BBC reporting several individuals feeling ‘gaslit’ by the police when attempts were made to report the event. The Alcohol Education Trust performed a survey of which 91% of spiked individuals did not report it to the police. Described side effects have included hospital visits, paralysis and short-term amnesia. This has created a widespread climate of fear. It has also spurned action, with over 100,000 people signing a petition calling for compulsory searches at nightclubs. Many have joined the ‘Girls Night In’ page, which has organised several boycotts of licensed establishments. Tonight (28/10), the designated protest cities are Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Essex, Glasgow, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Stirling and Warwick. The objective of these boycotts is to pressure social establishments to increase security and safety for potential victims.  

It must be acknowledged that there has been some action. Labour's Shadow Home Secretary called the actions ‘vile’ and ‘terrifying’, and Priti Patel has asked police chiefs to urgently assess the scale of the problem. Sarah Crew, the NPCC’s lead officer for rape and adult sexual offences said that she has asked all police forces to investigate the matter and offer support.  

Additionally, in light of the Sarah Everard murder, Cressida Dick has instructed plain clothes officer to video call a control room for verification when stopping women, following Sarah Everard’s murder. However, this has been criticised, as Wayne Couzens chose not to follow police policy on the evening of the third of March 2021. The outcome of his sentence appeal will be indicative of the wider political and police attitudes towards such behaviour.  

Hopefully the most recent set of grass roots protests will be successful in leading to actual reform and real protection against dangerous behaviour.