Compare asking if someone wants sex with offering a cup of tea. Yes is yes and no is no. And if someone is too drunk to answer that question, that is no reason to pour the tea on their mouth. Or if someone wanted tea yesterday, then that is not an argument to start pouring today anyway.
It is an example from a film about the alleged shades of consent, consent, which will be shown during the launch of the ‘Student Pact on sexually transgressive behavior and sexual violence’. The launch took place in Utrecht on Thursday.
With the signing of the pact, student organizations and associations, including the Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Leiden corps, have committed themselves to a range of action points aimed at combating sexual abuse in student life.
Sexual misconduct
Research by Amnesty and I&O Research shows that sexual misconduct in the student world occurs with the regularity of a habit. Two-thirds of male and female students in the Netherlands experience some form of sexually transgressive behavior during their studies. One in ten female students is raped during their college years.
The aim of the pact is to make this misconduct “discussable and thus reduce it”, says initiator Mariette Hamer. The former member of parliament (PvdA) has been government commissioner for sexually transgressive behavior and sexual violence since April last year.
The reason for this pact is the remark of male members of the Amsterdam Student Corps (ASC), which came out in the summer of 2022, that women are “sperm buckets”, Hamer said in the run-up to the presentation.
The pact was written in collaboration with students in secondary vocational education, higher professional education and university education. During ‘working sessions’ – at the ministry and in the pub – experiences and thoughts were exchanged on the basis of sub-topics such as ‘awareness’ and ‘help’, says Hiddo Laane (25), who, as chairman of the Utrecht Student Corps (USC ) signs the pact.
Read also: Corps Misconduct: Break the Hierarchical Culture
Confidential advisor
A total of thirty action points have been included, including appointing a confidential adviser and drawing up a ‘road map’ on which students can see which social workers in the area they can turn to in the event of sexual violence, and which care will be reimbursed. . There are also more diffuse measures in the pact, such as ‘be aware of the role of language’ and ‘develop an online platform’ to exchange experiences.
According to Laane, the added value of the pact is the fact that not every board “has to reinvent the wheel”. During his board year, for example, he was confronted with reports of sexual assault and rape within his association. “It is difficult what to do. Does the victim like it if it is resolved within the association or should you refer them to external professionals? And to whom?”
Although Hamer indicates that he will continue to ‘monitor’ the state of affairs in the coming years, the question is what exactly the signature of student organizations and associations means. For example, there is no financial contribution to the pact to enable measures such as appointing an (external) confidential adviser or following a course.
In addition, the annual board change poses a risk “where the board starts 1-0 behind every year,” says Sabine Meulenbeld. She gives training courses and lectures on sexual safety, including at Maastricht University. According to her, the reiteration of the message of a safe culture is one of the crucial elements of the pact. “We have not learned after saying that we have to look out before crossing a street.”