Content Warning: sexual assault, spiking, rape.

For young women, the streets of not just Birmingham but also the United Kingdom feel as though they are becoming increasingly dangerous and violent. One of the most common forms of violence on our streets is so silent that your friends, and even you, may not realise it has happened until it’s too late. It is a silent killer.

Tamara’s Account

Far too often, we become complacent in familiar places, and it was no different for me.

I’d been going to The Nightingale Club for years, and their Thursday night drag event was one of the highlights of my week. But I didn’t realise until it was too late that someone else didn’t have such innocent intentions towards me.

The night it happened began like any other. It was October 30th, and my house was hosting a Halloween party we’d been excited about for weeks. Around midnight, a few of us left for the club and met up with more friends when we arrived. I was doing everything young women are taught to do on a night out: travel in a group, take a taxi, stay aware, but it still wasn’t enough.

Not long after arriving, I started feeling nauseous and faint. I had stopped drinking before leaving the house party and was no longer drunk. The symptoms hit fast. Suddenly I vomited in the club, not knowing where I was, feeling dazed, and the rest of the night became a blur.

The next morning, I woke up unable to stand, walk, or open my eyes. I experienced continuous sickness for five hours straight, and my stomach dropped when I looked at my arm, which felt heavy, and found a needle mark. As I struggled to get changed, I noticed another needle mark on my hip, and I was covered in blood.

My attacker was clearly determined, and that thought has lingered with me more than I would like to admit. Since that night, I have struggled to trust people and I don’t get drunk before going out anymore because I don’t feel I can afford to. I watch people overly closely, vigilant of those who may try to approach me, and I keep thinking about what would’ve happened if my friends hadn’t stayed with me.

 End of Account

This is the unfortunate reality for many women: no matter how much you do ‘right,’ it is still not enough.

Lucy Newman, the president of UoB’s Feminist Society (FemSoc), tells us that she knows many students who have been spiked, and has also experienced this violence first-hand. “I like to think I’m quite careful, but so does everyone”, she tells us, but even in groups, and even when vigilant and informed, attackers will find ways to shatter the safety of women.

Lucy was spiked at Snobs, along with her best friend, on the night of her 18th birthday. Lucy was told that the wait to be seen at A&E, for a health threat that could potentially be deadly, would be at least 8 hours long.

When approached by the police, the questions that she was asked were familiar.

What were you wearing? How many drinks did you have?

It seems we have a culture which seeks to solve the issue of spiking by trying to tell women how not to be spiked. 

‘It’s always on women to protect themselves, but why can’t men just not spike drinks?’

Spiking doesn’t always lead to sexual assault, instead many women have told Lucy that after they have been spiked the perpetrators leave the area entirely. So why?

‘It’s rape culture… the pyramid of rape culture starts at the bottom with men talking to each other, making sexual comments about girls, and not being called out for it, and then it just gets more extreme the further you go up… It starts with ‘harmless’ comments, and escalates further into violence.’

‘It is men feeling entitled to put fear into women.’

This is Birmingham, where in the last few months, there have been three cases of extreme racial and sexual violence against women. The racially motivated rape of a Sikh woman in Oldbury in early September was followed by the rape of another Sikh woman in Walsall in late October. In early November, a woman was stabbed in the neck and murdered whilst waiting at a bus stop directly outside the Bullring.

To correct this culture, we must disrupt the normalisation of violence against women and prioritise supporting victims of spiking over shaming or doubting them.

So how does FemSoc create spaces of safety for women at the University? Spiking can leave women disoriented, and it is usually once noticing something feels ‘off’ that the penny drops. Self-doubt and disbelief from others can amplify the anxiety of this experience. Having a reliable support system is invaluable, and FemSoc provides a readily available community where people can lean on each other, as well as a welfare officer who will signpost anyone affected by these issues. They are also looking to deliver a workshop on how to recognise spiking and how to support a friend if they notice these signs. 

Beyond reporting incidents to the police, another useful resource is the Egalitarian. This is a community-led database that tracks hot spots and provides public, anonymous accounts of where and how the spiking took place.

As for the university, training and visible support is crucial to combat spiking. At Joe’s Bar in the Guild, training in spiking and sexual harassment is advertised on the walls behind their counter, including Ask For Angela. This training teaches the team that anyone asking to speak to ‘Angela’ at the bar is in danger, or feels unsafe. The team are then trained in how to help the person discreetly, including potentially calling a taxi or helping them out of their situation ‘without too much fuss’.

There are also leaflets for the charity Spike Aware UK at the bar, which has qr codes signposting students to further support. Visible proof of spiking awareness and staff training can be assuring to students who have been spiked before, helping them feel safer and more supported.

A major challenge in tackling this issue is how to break out of its silence. First-hand accounts of spiking, which are covered in the stigma of doubt and uncertainty, are usually contained within women’s circles, as cautionary tales from one woman to another.

To invite male students into these conversations, FemSoc committee will be going to men’s sports societies to encourage discussions on harassment and to deliver training sessions with them on violence against women.

The goal would be to ensure they understand their role in rejecting rape culture. Lucy is insistent on not shunning men from these conversations, but encouraging them to support and engage with these discussions. 

‘They suffer at the hands of it [rape culture] as well… you can’t jump on them because that just alienates them.’

‘It’s really important to not just have them come to us, but we go to them… but I do think it’s good for men to be in a room full of women who have this ideology, or this goal, and to learn from them.

We shouldn’t be scared of surrounding men with a room full of women… It’s a balance of both.’

Looking for more? Read these from Redbrick Comment:

Your Party: Will Reform UK Finally Have a Worthy Opponent?

The Removal of Angela Rayner from Office: Deserved, or a Sad Loss for Women in Politics?

Operation Raise the Colours: Pride or Prejudice?