Police poster tells women ‘stop showing your assets’ to stay safe

• Police tell students ‘stop showing off’ or get attacked
• Poster shows girl in crop top and thong flaunting phone
• Other police forces used version without thong and bare midriff

Manchester Police have come under fire again after it emerged they put up “victim blaming” stay safe posters in a uni building.

The posters show a girl with her thong above her jeans next to the words “stop showing off” and “keep your assets out of sight”.

The provocative poster was spotted in the Kilburn building

Now, outraged students are lashing out at GMP’s “bad taste” campaign, while the university have chosen to frame it in the Kilburn building.

The stylised illustration with graffiti-style font shows a girl holding a Motorola flip-phone, a generation one iPod in true 90s fashion.

The poster is framed in a computer cluster on the ground floor of the building. The Tab understands that the poster has been there for years, but has only just come to light.

And it appears GMP chose to circulate a version of the picture with revealing clothing – a poster circulated by police in Shropshire in 2010 shows the same image but the girl’s midriff is covered – and she isn’t wearing a thong.

This poster used by West Murcia Police in 2010 suggests GMP deliberately chose to warn women not to wear revealing clothing

One fuming first year was confused at the hypocrisy of the university. They told The Tab: “They took down my friends panto posters last year but they’ll put that up.”

Lydia Morton, third year Linguistics student, was extremely offended by the poster: “Stop telling girls to keep their “assets” out of sight, and let’s reinforce the very basic fact that no actually means no.”

One third year was in disbelief: “That’s pretty bad. It can’t actually be for real, is this a joke?!”

A third year Art History student was fuming from seeing this poster after recent events: “Everyone is terrified for their own safety after the rape in Fallowfield, and this is the last thing we want to hear.

“What the hell were they thinking?! Trying to suggest that we’re asking to get raped/mugged/attacked is disgusting and insensitive.

“The uni and the police should be trying to help and support us at this time, not rudely suggesting that it’s our own fault.”

“It’s so out dated” a second year Linguistics student told The Tab. “It’s like they’re trying to be ‘down with the kids’.”

Shocked students took so social media to express their outrage, branding the poster “bad taste”.

One student on Facebook sarcastically remarked: “I, for one, am very glad that I’ve seen this poster.

“I didn’t realise that wearing a thong makes it easier for people to steal my things. I will wear more clothing in the future!”

And it has come to light just weeks after out of touch police told female students to be more careful after a girl was raped in Fallowfield.

Writing for The Tab, Andrea Campos-Vigouroux called the GMP out on their victim blaming advice, asking “why should women have to live their lives in fear of being sexually assaulted by men?”

Correction: This story originally implied the poster was new, when in fact it has been on the wall at the uni for several years.