‘Don’t get spiked’, Durham University says in now-deleted social media posts

One person commented: ‘How about don’t spike people instead?’


Durham University has now deleted posts on various social media platforms, which told students: “Don’t get spiked”.

The posts received much backlash from the student community.

Durham’s action comes amid reports of spiking from all around the country and recent suspected cases in Durham itself.

The full post published to Twitter reads: “Drink Spiking is dangerous and something that you can prevent from happening to you and your friends. #dontgetspiked Contact the police as soon as possible in a suspected case so an investigation can be conducted and others protected”.

The post has been labelled “unbelievably insensitive and unacceptable” and “disgusting victim-blaming”, with others questioning why the original message was not “don’t spike people instead”.

Both the original Instagram and Twitter versions of the posts have now been deleted, but whilst they were up they garnered a mass student response. The University has released the following statement on Twitter in response to the backlash:

“We appreciate the feedback on our recent post about drink safety. Students have reported concerns to us about drink spiking on nights out. We take this very seriously, and work with the police and others on guidance to help people be safe and report incidents.

“We always aim to support our students and will take this opportunity to learn and improve our messages on this important topic. It is our duty to listen to you and address these difficult issues, including training staff and student representatives on drug and alcohol awareness.”

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