Notts students are boycotting nightclubs this Wednesday amid a rise in reports of spiking

A boycott of nightclubs is set to take place in Nottingham on Wednesday 27th October following a sharp increase in reports of spiking.

The boycott is being organised by Girls Night In, a campaign that originally started in Edinburgh and aims to raise awareness of spiking. Boycotts of night-clubs will be taking place across the country between Monday 25th of October and Wednesday 3rd November.

The Tab Notts recently reported how a University of Nottingham student, 19-year-old Zara Owen, was allegedly “spiked via injection” whilst on a night out in the city centre. 

UoN student Zara Owen believes she was spiked whilst on a night out.

Girls Night In Nottingham argue that this boycott will make the nightclubs in Nottingham take the spiking issue seriously.

Girls Night In Nottingham told The Tab Notts that they had found the original Girls Night In account and had felt inspired to start an account for Nottingham due to the recent influx of alleged spiking cases.

Girls Night In Nottingham said: “Our purpose is to raise awareness and encourage testimonies so people can come to our page and resonate with the truths of others.

“The response from individuals in Nottingham has been astounding, and the amount of testimonies we have received really sheds some light on how big an issue it is.”

“A club boycott was planned on a popular student night with the idea that everyone, for one night should avoid these clubs, as a statement to them to show the power we hold and the influence we have.

“The aim is to make clubs take effective action to prevent variants of spiking happening within their venues and most importantly, enforce changes.

“We believe that by raising awareness of the dangers of spiking, we hope to break the stigma surrounding ‘girls just getting too drunk.’”

In response to the boycott, Crisis have announced that it will be cancelling their usual weekly event on the day the boycott will take place.

In a post made to its Instagram, Crisis said: “We will be cancelling this Wednesday’s CRISIS event to offer our solidarity and support for the ‘Girls Night In’ campaign. All tickets that have been purchased will automatically be refunded.

“We believe that all women have the right to enjoy themselves on a night out and not to be in fear of being ‘spiked’ or other abusive behaviour so we decided that we should cancel CRISIS this week to raise awareness of the campaign.

“At the same time, we are continuing to work with the Police and local authorities to eradicate this problem.

“As of last week, CRISIS has implemented a search system on entry including bag searches and metal detectors; anti- spiking bottle stoppers and protective drinks covers available free of charge with all drinks at the bars. We are improving staff training and have changed the way we handle incident reporting at our events to better look after our customers. We will work tirelessly to continue to improve these measures over the coming weeks.

“All new safety provisions are in addition to existing CCTV camera systems to share with the police in aid of any investigations, in-house club medic and welfare response teams. Anyone suspected of spiking orienteering CRISIS with the intention to carry out spiking will be detained and the police informed.”

The Tab Nottingham has contacted Ocean, Pryzm, Rock City and Bodega for comment. 

If you or someone you know has been affected by this story, please head to Drinkaware for more information on drink spiking. You can call Victim Support on 08 08 16 89 111 or find help via their website.

Related articles recommended by this author:

• Notts student says she was ‘spiked with an injection’ at Pryzm nightclub on night out

• There have been 12 alleged spikings via injection reported to Notts Police in the past month

• Man arrested after women report being ‘injected with needles’ in Nottingham

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