Two years after #MeToo: How sexual harassment and assault on young women in nightclubs continues to be normalised

I’m in the club, quite intoxicated with a boy behind me. Together we attempt to move in time to the beat of the terrible house music, as couples across the floor mirror our actions. He leans into my ear and whispers “suck my willy.” I blink. “No thank you.” He smiles and nods as he continues to dance and I hesitantly join him. I’m much too drunk to overthink it. I continue to sway, mouthing incorrect song lyrics, drunkenly laughing to myself as I do so; and then my head snaps up as I realise what’s going on.

His hand is gripping at my wrist, shoving it under his trousers and before I can do anything I feel his penis on my palm. There’s a mixture of nausea and anger brewing at the pit of my stomach as I frantically pull my arm out and shove him away. My teary eyes scan across the room but everyone seems to be oblivious. I look from corner to corner of the club as I begin to notice boys smirking at drunks verging on unconsciousness, hands groping girls as they walk by, fingers inching and tugging up skirts as couples kiss. It’s a scene we’ve witnessed far more often than we’d like to admit.

October marked two years of the #MeToo revelations which were caused by the Harvey Weinstein rape allegations. New Yorker, civil rights activist, Tarana Burke originally created the term in 2006 to help women of colour who had survived forms of sexual abuse but since then, the use of #MeToo has been used more widely. The movement is led by the survivors as it “affirms empowerment through empathy” with everyday victims benefitting from it. According to the BBC calls to the US National Rape hotline rose by 23% between October to December of 2017. The Guardian claims that between 2017-2018 the number of rapes reported to the police rose by 13,000, almost tripling from the previous year’s figures.

But there’s still one area the #MeToo movement seems to have forgotten about: nightclubs. Like most young women, I enjoy going to clubs on the weekends. It’s an excuse to get drunk, meet up with your close friends and simultaneously forget anything embarrassing that you may do. Unfortunately, for many girls like myself, the night will usually not go without some form of sexual harassment or assault. The worst bit about it? We treat it like it’s normal.

“I think it’s got to a point where girls go out into town, almost knowing that at some point that night they were going to be touched by someone they didn't know. I feel like a lot of people expect it to happen in clubs and a lot of people will let the other person get away with it just so they don’t cause a scene,” told Lauren Jones, a nightclub worker who has witnessed people being sexually harassed whilst standing behind the bar.

A 2017 YouGov Poll (Drinkaware) 72% of young adults have witnessed unwanted sexual comments and harassment at clubs and bars, with 77% of these being women. Furthermore, the poll showed that 79% of women aged 18-24 think sexual harassment is likely to happen to themselves or friends on a night out.

“It always happens in nightclubs and it happens to all of my girlfriends. On a night out you get a guy feel you up on the dancefloor or touch you inappropriately without your consent. It always happens and I think that it’s the whole culture behind it: everyone knows that it does,” said Lottie Cane, 18, “my most prominent experience was when I was repeatedly asked by a man to stand there [outside of the club] whilst he wanked himself off to me and he would pay me money to do that.” Like many women who experience sexual harassment, Lottie was left feeling disgusted, vulnerable and afraid.

Amber Fletcher, 19 recalls a man harassing her friend: “When I intervened he started touching me, grabbing my arse, grabbing my waist and stuff. I was telling him ‘no’ and ‘get off’ and I had to tell him that at least ten times.” He then followed her and her friends to the bathroom and attempted to enter the stall with her and did not leave until she had to ask a staff member to force him to. For Amber, who has been an avid clubber for several years, she sees the situation as an “it is what it is” issue, “because it is so normalised you’re sort of made to just get over it.”

Others however, will become more emotionally affected by these situations, such as Rebecca Ingram, 19, who was questioned by a man ‘why are you in a club if you aren’t going to make out with guys?’. After responding “it isn’t my thing,'' Rebecca recalled, “he said, ‘I respect that in a woman’, whilst moving his hand around my waist. Him grabbing me happened a few times during the interaction”. Since this experience, Rebecca now feels more wary of her surroundings in clubs.

“It’s not even worth talking about because no one cares and it always happens. It’s that kind of attitude that means it’s brushed off if you talk about it. If you don’t like it then don’t go out, that’s really the culture behind it,” said Lottie.

It’s time we start calling these usual nightclub happenings what they are: sexual harassment and assault. We need to protect our friends, sisters or even daughters from the trauma they are constantly experiencing. For as long as our voices and actions remain idle, as we continue to blind ourselves to the issue, there is no hope for the future females of our generation. We need to speak up, tell young women that it’s okay to talk about it, it’s okay to feel emotionally affected and that their feelings are not invalid. Maybe then we will begin to see the change that currently seems so unattainable.