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Girls Night In has never been so Terrifying


TW: Spiking, violence.



This is not a blog I ever thought I’d have to write. It’s not a scenario I had ever even thought about. This does not just involve people identifying as girls: it involves every single person.


Since I was 18, when I started going to clubs, I’ve followed certain rules. Don’t buy drinks to take on the dancefloor; stay in a big group where possible; don’t get too drunk; cover your drink; watch the bar staff pour the drink; do not accept drinks from strangers; only drink shots so you don’t have as long to get spiked. So what happens when you can’t protect yourself through this anymore? What happens when people go to such extremes that you’re no longer safe even when taking every precaution you can?


Spiking is no longer about protecting your drink, protecting your night or your memory. It’s about protecting the rest of your health. Injections are not preventable by taking ‘precautions’. You can’t wear armour to a club. This new epidemic is about protecting your bodily integrity – how on earth do you do that? Why should we have to when we’re just trying to have fun?


Everything that has happened this year – Sarah Everard’s death, Texas’s new rules on abortion, spikers turning to injections to harm women not just that night, but potentially for the rest of their lives – have highlighted that women are still not safe. We still do not have the power to control our own lives. Something must be done.


A boycott may not seem like the most powerful method. However, it is one action that every single person can take to show those with power to make a change how scared we are. It is one action that every single person can take to show they stand with those at risk.


Solidarity is the most important method. No matter how you identify: this is not just a women’s issue. Women alone cannot fight this. Every single person should be speaking out, suggesting change, having hard discussions, and boycotting on the dates to make an impact.



What are the boycotts hoping to achieve?


This is a boycott to achieve awareness amongst many other things. Clubs and bars need to be aware that women are less safe than ever before. They need to know that this is not okay.


Amongst the suggestions @girlsnightinedinburgh have requested from clubs are:

  • Providing training to staff

  • Training bouncers to ensure procedures are followed when dealing with both victims and offenders

  • Introducing code words and surveillance amongst staff to ensure problems are dealt with quickly

  • CCTV coverage

  • Clear cups and lids for drinks

  • Background checks on members of staff

  • Representation of all genders to ensure customers feel safer

  • Lifetime bans for those found spiking

  • A location for first-aid and victims with equipment, staff and procedures

  • Thorough security checks

  • Unattended drinks should not be tolerated


The requests are not outrageous. Many are measures that should be expected from bars and clubs for general safety. Someone who has not been affected by spiking may not see the importance, however the new ways of spiking have led to issues many of us could never have foreseen or imagined.


Why are they necessary?


Perhaps these boycotts are not the start of something. Spiking has been around for years, and it is certainly not the first time I have felt scared to go out. But it has reached new extremes, and this boycott represents this. Everyone needs to know the terror we are facing. It’s no longer fear – we feel frozen, sick to the core.


I’d love to say I feel empowered by the support that #girlsnightin has received. I am so grateful to the people who started it. But I am too scared. I am scared for myself, my friends, my peers. I am scared to experience a night I don’t remember, and wake up to repercussions that will haunt me for the rest of my life. I am too scared to do the things I have waited for throughout the pandemic. We have been so patient, and yet now the time is here, we are too scared to enjoy ourselves.


However you identify, please do not go out on these dates. Please share the information on social media, the posts created by the boycotting accounts. Do not let your peers go without understanding the detrimental issues. Please check in with your friends – it’s a really tough time for everyone. Please educate yourself, your friends, anyone around you.


Please help us feel safer.




BOYCOTT DATES



Friday 22nd October

  • Southampton @sotoncashes


Monday 25th October

  • Exeter @officialgirlsnightinexeter


Tuesday 26th October

  • ·Durham: @durhamnightin

  • ·Liverpool: @girlsnightinliverpool

  • ·Leicester: @leicesternightin ; @girlsnightinleicester ; @girlsnightinleics

  • ·Aberystwyth: @aber.night.in


Wednesday 27th October


THURSDAY 28TH OCTOBER


FRIDAY 29TH OCTOBER


MONDAY 1ST NOVEMBER


WEDNESDAY 3RD NOVEMBER


THURSDAY 4TH NOVEMBER


FRIDAY 5TH NOVEMBER

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