These are the Girls Night In club boycotts happening around London

London Night In boycotts are taking place around London, organised by various groups including @rhulnightin, @londonnightin, and uni sports societies.

UCL tennis and netball societies, among others, are boycotting all bars and pubs this coming Wednesday 27th October, including Phineas and Loop, which are both very popular with uni students and sports societies. They are also asking supporters to donate their usual Loop ticket money to charity.

RHUL Night In have confirmed their boycott day to also be October 27th, while London Night In’s date is November 5th.

These boycotts follow many recent reports of spiking around the country, including by injection. A Tab survey found that out of 23,000 people, 2,625 people believe they’ve been spiked already since the beginning of term, with the percentage of students at a London university who believe they have been spiked this term being 8.2 per cent.

Many sports societies have been showing their support for the Girls Night In movement on Instagram.

The UCL netball society, who are participating in the Wednesday night boycotts, are additionally asking members to donate to The Survivors Trust, a charity that supports survivors of sexual assault.

The society is also working with other clubs to put together statements to send to Loop, Phineas and Wicked Student Nights about changes that would make people feel safer when clubbing.

Wicked Student Nights told The Tab that they “support everyone’s right to enjoy a safe night out.”

They said: “Wicked Student Nights only works with venues that operate ID scans, searches and the use of CCTV to prevent and detect crime and anti-social behaviour.”

In the consensus that women should never feel uncomfortable and unsafe when going out, other London universities have joined the “Girls Night In” boycotts, with RHUL holding their movement this Wednesday, and a general London organisation holding theirs on 5th November.

Atik, a club frequently visited by RHUL students and who have a Halloween event on Wednesday, told the Tab: “We fully support creating awareness for this cause and take the matter very seriously. We as a club put in very strong measures to keep females safe both inside the venue and outside.”

The London Night In movement aims to put pressure on London clubs to put more protective measures to prevent drink spiking, and demands for clubs to:

Increase entry security

Increase CCTV

Provide free drink protection devices

Provide a medical centre

Provide safe methods to get home

https://www.instagram.com/p/CVNn1JGMsaB/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

If you are a victim of drink spiking and would like to share your story to raise awareness, a good platform is @ivebeenspiked on Instagram, a “safe space for people who have been spiked, sharing stories, offering support, demanding action.”

In the case of someone being spiked make sure to alert a staff member and if the situation deteriorates, call an ambulance and contact the police as soon as possible.

If you are looking for further resources then https://www.drinkaware.co.uk is a good place to start.

Loop, Cargo, Tiger Tiger, Fabric and other London clubs have been contacted for comment.

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• This is how you can tell if your drink has been spiked