Following recent revelations regarding revenge porn at University College Dublin (UCD), UCD’s Students’ Union (UCDSU) has said that it is seeking funding from the college to introduce compulsory consent classes for all students starting from the next academic year.
It came to light last week that as many as 200 UCD students, predominantly studying agricultural science, may have formed a Facebook chat group in which explicit photos and anecdotes of female students were shared and rated without their consent.
UCDSU have stated on their Facebook page that: “We’re not going to pass the buck. We will change ‘lad’ culture in UCD as promised following our election to office.”
Following the revenge porn scandal, representatives from the union met with UCD president Andrew Deeks to talk about their plans to tackle the problem.
UCDSU are lobbying for more funding and for more support services for survivors of sexual assault, as well as demanding that “a comprehensive survey of student experience of sexual violence and understanding of consent must be carried out within this academic term,” in order to better monitor sexual violence and harassment experienced by students. They state that this report should be able to make binding recommendations for university management. Finally, they demand that: “The UCD Dignity and Respect Policy must be amended so formal complaints can be made online, [and] are quickly addressed.”
UCDSU are also working with Louise O’Neill, author of Asking for It, whose Facebook post regarding the revenge porn allegations received over 6,400 likes. O’Neill stated that those responsible should not only face legal consequences, but also need to be “socially shamed.” She called for support for the women who have been violated. “I want us to stand in solidarity with the women whose photos are shared. They have done nothing wrong,” she said.
This is the second recent controversy of this nature in UCD, following news last year that a Facebook group titled ‘Girls I’d shift if I was tipsy’ was being used by some students. UCDSU responded with a year long consent campaign hoping to tackle the issue of consent and what has been termed ‘lad culture’ in the college.
At a meeting of the Council of Trinity College Dublin’s Students’ Union (TCDSU) last month, it was announced that sexual consent classes will be mandatory for all residents of Trinity Hall from the start of the next academic year. SU citizenship officer Kieran McNulty proposed the motion which was almost unanimously passed. This decision came under fire for being infantilising and unnecessary by some members of the public and media, including Irish Times writer Finola Meredith, who wrote: “Rather than being coerced into an ABC introduction to approved sexual etiquette, these are boundaries that students must negotiate and define for themselves.” However, the move has been welcomed by the vast majority of students and has a mandate to extend to all first year students in the future.
McNulty, when asked for comment about UCDSU’s plans, stated that: “I’d welcome the efforts of UCD. What I would say for Trinity is that the approach taken here is to trial the workshops in Halls and perfect them, and that’s the mandate the SU has at the minute.”
