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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

#shameonyouwarwick

793 replies

smcbride · 31/01/2019 07:42

Warwick Police haven't prosecuted anyone for these vile rape threats and Warwick uni are now letting (some of?) the perpetrators back in to study at the same university alongside those they discussed threatening to rape.

Would you be happy sending your child here?

Warwick students suspended over rape threats allowed to return earlyly*_

OP posts:
Nanny0gg · 31/01/2019 08:45

it's a wholly unpleasant situation, not sure what anyone can positively learn from it unless you have suggestions?

That our institutions need to protect their students and employees from any form of sexual harassment/abuse? And that this is not how you do it?

Bluestitch · 31/01/2019 08:46

Maybe the young men involved could learn not to talk about using hair straighteners on one of their female classmates genitals? Rather than just not putting on social media.

Fazackerley · 31/01/2019 08:47

That our institutions need to protect their students and employees from any form of sexual harassment/abuse?

But it was private. I am not defending them, but from a legal standpoint that makes a big difference.

TinklyLittleFart · 31/01/2019 08:47

Disgusting

GCAcademic · 31/01/2019 08:48

Each student is worth £27k to the university...

I honestly don't think it's about that. 9k from a few students has to be balanced against lost fees from a far greater students who now won't want to take up offers from or apply to Warwick.

From what I can deduce this is about the university running scared of a legal challenge. I've sat on various panels to do with student misconduct (usually academic misconduct) and the fear of the student invoking legal proceedings is very palpable from senior management. It sounds to me like the students got off on a technicality, as there is now talk from the SU of the university's disciplinary process needing to be tightened up.

However, I would also add that misogyny is rife in universities, particularly among senior management, even when the senior managers are women. What actually makes it worse is that these people are fully convinced that they are among the most progressive individuals on the planet. So it will never ever be addressed.

Nanny0gg · 31/01/2019 08:48

Just looked on their Twitter account. One girl has named them. Wonder how long before it's taken down.

Nanny0gg · 31/01/2019 08:49

Sorry, not their page. Just search page

Fazackerley · 31/01/2019 08:50

They were fully named yesterday on the Tab website.

Pickled0nion · 31/01/2019 08:50

it's a wholly unpleasant situation, not sure what anyone can positively learn from it unless you have suggestions?

That we still have a long way to go in educating men to see women as people?

GCAcademic · 31/01/2019 08:50

They were named by the Tab last summer.

Lalliella · 31/01/2019 08:51

It’s absolutely disgusting. My son is applying for uni next year and that was on his list. Not any more. #boycottwarwick

User10fuckingmillion · 31/01/2019 08:52

People have been kicked out of uni for less

Eliza9917 · 31/01/2019 08:56

@Fazackerley Thu 31-Jan-19 08:40:05
I'm sure I'll get flamed for this - these men sound awful. But they didn't rape anyone, it was a stupid private chat, their lives are effectively ruined due to the social media interest. If we learn anything from this it is to tell our children not to talk utter shite on social media.

I agree.

"Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you".

OneStepMoreFun · 31/01/2019 08:56

I hope all female prospective students withdraw their applications to study at Warwick and current ones ask for transfers to other universities.
I hope all male prospective students do too, but truly, if I had a daughter I would not let her near that place now. DS1 is applying for uni next year. Warwick is really good for the course he wants to do. I might ask him to send a letter explaining why he won't be applying and ask if his friends might do the same. He's quite politically active.

Pickled0nion · 31/01/2019 08:56

The "chat" that I've just read really is vile. I'm wondering how it feels to be on campus today knowing that some of your peers think and own those beliefs.

Lycanthropology · 31/01/2019 08:58

Glad to see there’s a thread on this.

What the hell are Warwick thinking? They have to keep their students safe, and let them feel safe.
Young women will be loath to apply here now, and no one will be encouraging their daughters to do so.

JacquesHammer · 31/01/2019 08:58

I don’t actually care if their “lives are ruined”.

Tough shit. They should have thought about that before threatening to rape and abuse women.

Nanny0gg · 31/01/2019 08:58

@Eliza9917
Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you

With all due respect, that is utter bollocks.

You have clearly never been bullied, let alone have sexual threats made against you (how did the girls know those boys wouldn't have followed through?)

Grimbles · 31/01/2019 08:58

But it was private. I am not defending them, but from a legal standpoint that makes a big difference

It's funny that the 'it's just private bantz' defence is accepted when violence towards women is what's being 'discussed'

A lot of criminal acts start out as private chats, until they decide to act on it. Murder, acts of terrorism and so on.

Then, all the plotting gets exposed and people ask why nothing was done.

Bluestitch · 31/01/2019 08:59

"Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you".

You don't think it might be harmful to the women involved to have to share a classroom with men who discussed committing awful acts of violence against them?

GCAcademic · 31/01/2019 08:59

So you wouldn't have a problem sharing a flat with a group of men who had discussed mutilating your genitals with hair straighteners, Eliza? I find that hard to believe.

PlatypusPie · 31/01/2019 09:00

I’ve just read the full Tab report from last summer. This is way, way beyond boys bragging and hyperbole - horrible.

Bluestitch · 31/01/2019 09:00

Also can something still be classed as private when it spreads among others? I understand they added somebody else to the chat and it was him who blew the whistle.

Lycanthropology · 31/01/2019 09:00

Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you

What an utter pile.

If you think threats, abuse and verbal bullying don’t hurt people then you are a fucking idiot.

Nanny0gg · 31/01/2019 09:01

And if they were my sons I would be so utterly ashamed I would hope I'd be able to prevent any return to any university (definitely not Warwick) until I'd seen a genuine change in attitude. (and I'd be wondering where I'd gone wrong as a parent)

Wonder if they have sisters?