Nottingham has been one of many cities across the country that took part in the “Girls Night In” boycott, following a significant surge in spiking reports.
Boycotts took place in numerous cities across the UK after people started reporting being spiked through injections, including in Nottingham two weeks ago, on Wednesday, October 27.
Multiple Nottingham students decided to have a night in instead of going out, to show solidarity with spiking victims.
The boycott also aimed to bring light to the incidents that seem to keep occurring, as well as to push for nationwide changes regarding the safety of club-goers.
However, have Nottingham nightclubs taken any action following the Girls Night In campaign?
We went to three of Nottingham’s most popular nightclubs among students to see what the clubbing experience is like after the boycott.
Since the boycott took place, I went to Ocean on Friday, November 5 and I could definitely notice a big change regarding security and anti-spiking measures.
Everyone’s ID’s and Student ID’s are checked upon entry, as well as bags and pockets, which did not always happen before the boycott.
Drink toppers are also available now at all the bars within the venue, which is definitely a step in the right direction.
The number of bouncers also seems to have increased.
Overall, I think Ocean nightclub has definitely taken plenty of precautionary measures following the boycott.
One of Platform’s writers, Gianluca Spataro, an NTU Journalism student who went to Rock City on Saturday, November 6, shared his experience about going to Rock City.
“Nottingham over the past few weeks has been a place of paranoia and fear when going on a night out within the city.
“It has been interesting to see the change in security level from before the boycott to after.
“Rock City security for example before the boycott was, unfortunately, in my opinion very poor.
“When entering the club there were no searches and no removing items from pockets.
“This was very unsettling as security seemed too lenient and many guests could have smuggled something in.
“Suddenly after the boycott and as more cases were reported the issue rose in severity; Rock City has since significantly upgraded security.
“When I attended an event recently I could tell bouncers had increased, we had to remove items from pockets and we were also searched on entry.
“This was a quick but thorough process that was necessary for making people feel safe when inside the club.
“Voices have been heard and changes have been made to help prevent such vile incidents from taking place, let’s just hope it’s enough.”
Measures seem to not be as thorough when entering the Unit 13 nightclub on Burton Street.
Layla Shafiq, a Fashion Marketing and Branding student who attended the club on Saturday, November 6, said: “I went to Unit 13 last weekend and they didn’t search anyone.
“I’ve only been once before the boycott but they didn’t search then either.
“As far as I could tell they didn’t have any other measures like plastic tops, although there seemed to be more staff outside.”
Having this in mind, it will be interesting to see how Nottingham’s nightclub scene continues to change (or not) in the next following months and whether the Girls Night In boycott, which was supported by many, was just a passing trend.
Lead image: Rucsandra Moldoveanu