Women across Birmingham will be boycotting nightclubs and bars as part of a national campaign after a spate of reported drink spiking incidents across the country.
'The Girls Night In' campaign is calling for nightclubs and bars to take more action to tackle the ‘epidemic’ of drink spiking by increasing entry security, providing free drink-protection devices and a clear medical centre.
Organiser Hannah, who didn't want to tell us her full name, has called the campaign a moment for 'nightclubs and bars to listen and engage.'
Read more: 'Woman spiked by injection' in West Midlands as police issue night out safety advice
She said: "We feel that clubs can do more to protect victims of spiking. The whole boycott of clubs is so that they listen to us."
Two women were recently left ill following alleged drink spiking at Henman & Cooper in Birmingham and Popworld, Solihull.
Henman & Cooper and Popworld Solihull bosses have both said they're working closely with West Midlands Police to assist with their investigation.
Cases of women getting spiked via injections on nights out across the country have erupted on social media, 6 months after women shared their experience of men’s violence and sexual assault in the wake of Sarah Everard’s death.
Hannah told BirminghamLive she isn't surprised by the number of spiking reports but hopes this current wave of conversation surrounding the 'many fears about women's safety' begins to bring change and more safety.
She explained: "We've heard from a few clubs in Birmingham and they've said they already have things in place. But do your customers know this? This is really important, if it's not signposted that they can offer support, then how do their customers know that they will support them?"
The University of Birmingham's Guild of Students is standing in solidarity with the campaign and has cancelled its sports night - where sports clubs and societies gather to celebrate one of the university's biggest nights.
President of the Guild, Mikey Brown, shares concerns at the increased prevalence of spiking in venues across the country and wants to show support in a 'practical and tangible' way by calling on the student population to 'boycott other venues.'
He added: "We established an internal anti-spiking task force to work on measures to improve the safety of our venues.
"We are in active discussions with venues and promoters in Birmingham to take this work forward. We believe that every student has the right to be able to enjoy themselves without fear, and will continue to work proactively with all appropriate parties to bring that about."
University of Birmingham, Birmingham City University and Aston student unions have collectively condemned the crime of spiking and called on venues across the city to take serious steps to enhance the safety of students when on nights out in the city.
Snobs nightclub, which runs a popular student night on Wednesdays, has extended its support of the campaign stating they 'fully support it and people's right to do so' as it highlights an issue that 'negatively affects' their customers.
A spokesperson from SNOBS said: "[We're] sorry customers feel that Snobs hasn’t taken this issue seriously, we have been proactively working to improve things since coming out of lockdown. We have been in contact with the police and Birmingham City Council regularly over the past 6 months, we’ve taken any guidance and advice that they have given us. We’ve increased training with staff and security, we also run a customer care team, as well as increased the number of first aiders on-site."
Snobs are part of the national safety initiative, Ask for Angela which was rolled out across the country in 2016.
The code word 'Ask for Angela' can be used at bars and venues to alert staff they feel unsafe and keep people safe from sexual assault. A trained member of staff will then support and assist them in an uncomfortable situation.
Despite their efforts, Snobs acknowledges there is always more that can be done and 'encourages' customers 'to go to the police, and hospital to get a full health and toxicology report and liaise with us in hope of a conviction.'
"Snobs has an excellent CCTV system with over 60 cameras plus 6 body-worn cameras on site. This is hopefully a deterrent against crimes and can be a positive tool in uncovering perpetrators," the spokesperson added.
"The myth that nightclubs are somehow complicit, and happy to let the behaviours continue is a complete untruth. However, proving it is very difficult thus making it even harder to combat and deal with. We’ve endlessly reached out to experts and authorities with little success."
