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Students report ‘National Rape Day’ group chat to Cardiff University

Cardiff University urges anyone with information to come forward

| UPDATED

Trigger Warning: discussion of sexual assault/rape

Students have reported a group chat to Cardiff University that is allegedly targeting female students as part of the ‘National Rape Day’ hoax.

A spokesperson for Cardiff University said: “We take a zero-tolerance approach to violence and abuse, including threats of violence. Anyone who is behaving in this way or supporting behaviour will be subject to disciplinary action.”

South Wales Police has said that they are aware of such malicious and untrue videos circulating on social media. They have urged anyone with information or concerns to report them to the police.

The Cardiff University Football Club said they “are going to be wearing our red quarter zips”  and “will be walking around Cathays making sure everyone is safe.”

The messages within the reported group chat include male university students labelling April 24th as ‘National Rape Day’, where group members would compete by sexually assaulting and harassing as many women across Cardiff as possible.

Similar discussions have been circulating on platforms such as TikTok and WhatsApp, with some social media users labelling it a hoax.

Despite this, various Cardiff University students have taken to the Facebook group ‘Overheard at Cardiff University’ to warn other female students within Cardiff.

A screenshot of a previous post was shared to the page, in which it was said: “On Saturday morning, more so than ever, we urge you to take extra care – set those location settings if you’re going out, don’t walk alone and just be cautious when walking around campuses or in the city.”

The post also claimed: “Group chats have been created already by male students at the University of Exeter and Cardiff (so far) with the names of hundreds of girls in them to be targeted.”

A Cardiff University spokesperson told The Cardiff Tab: “We have been made aware of this deeply disturbing content and understand this is causing distress. This content could also be triggering to anyone who has experienced sexual assault or rape, which is deeply concerning.

“We want to make it absolutely clear: we are taking these matters seriously. We have passed this information to colleagues at SOuth Wales Police and University security are also aware.”

They added: “We would encourage anyone with information about individuals engaged in any such discussions to come forward with this information.

“If anyone feels threatened or concerned about their immediate safety, they should contact the police or University security.”

The Cardiff University Football Club have offered to chaperone any girl or anyone walking to anywhere on Saturday and have encouraged everyone to drop a message if they don’t feel safe.

They said “Having seen the potential threat to girls on Saturday evening in Cardiff, I personally think it’s disgusting and the football club are here to do something about it.”

“If you are literally walking anywhere at anytime on Saturday and don’t feel safe, please please please drop me a message!”

The National Police Chiefs’ Council commented “Police are aware of a small number of malicious and untrue videos circulating on social media relating to ‘national rape day’. Rape is one of the most devastating crimes police investigate and we are working with social media companies to remind them of their duty to remove potentially harmful videos of this nature from their platforms.”

“Anyone with information or concerns should report them to police either online or by calling 101. In an emergency always call 999.”

If you or someone known feel unsafe and need urgent help, please contact the Cardiff University Security reception on +44 (0)29 2087 4445. Correspondingly, if you or someone you know has been affected by this story contact Refuge on their free 24/7 helpline 0808 2000 247 or contact Rape Crisis online for a free confidential chat helpline.

You can also find other emergency contacts here.

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