This is how student societies are tackling social safety this year

Just a week and a half after the murder of 17-year-old Lisa as she cycled home from a night out, mayor Carola Schouten used the Opening of the Academic Year to call on students and societies to ‘speak respectfully about women, so that they feel safe here too’. Skadi, RSC/RVSV and SSR-Rotterdam are trying to meet that call by starting another six-month programme this week in collaboration with Gelijkspel, a foundation that helps student societies reflect on how they interact with each other, including sexually. Former student board members working for the foundation run workshops for students, committees and boards, and help develop policies for a socially and sexually safe environment.

SSR worked with Gelijkspel for the first time last year. Together with two mentors from the foundation, the board examined the society. The result was a new code of conduct ‘more suited to the current times’, and a plan to improve the role of the confidential advisers. Posters with QR codes now hang in the toilets, so students can – anonymously or not – send a message if they want to talk. Board member Sanne Kok is one of SSR’s two confidential advisers. She received training for the role through Gelijkspel. “My fellow adviser and I have a conversation with a member at least once a week. Usually, someone just wants to get something off their chest. But sometimes, it’s about transgressive behaviour.”

Kok believes the increased attention to social safety has been well received in the society. “Everyone understands the seriousness of the issue, and everyone recognises that we, as a society, have to do something about it. After all, we’re a group of students who often have quite a few drinks. Things sometimes go wrong, so your policies need to move with the times.” This week, SSR is starting a new programme, with this year’s focus on evaluating the new code of conduct.

At Laurentius, Gelijkspel is giving a workshop this week on social safety for all first-year students. “It’s about setting boundaries, standing up for yourself and understanding that ‘no’ really means ‘no’”, says chair Stan Verspoor. Later in the year, the board and the house committee, which is responsible for safety and order in the society building, will receive another workshop from Gelijkspel. “That one’s more about how to recognise sexually transgressive behaviour in others, and what to do when you see it.”

The same workshop will be given to first-years at SSR too, although the board is considering whether to go ahead with it. “We feel that the workshop isn’t comprehensive. It’s quite similar to what we already do during the introduction period. We’re looking for something a bit more in-depth”, says Kok.

Rotterdamsch Studenten Gezelschap has had its own wellbeing working group since last academic year, a group of around ten students that responds to members’ needs. Last year, the group organised several symposia on mental health, including one specifically for men, as well as alcohol-free social evenings. Board member Catelijn Caron is currently putting together the team that will take over those tasks this year. “I’d really like to address current issues, like social safety. The common thread is the general wellbeing of our members.”

Since the working group is still in its early stages, it’s only just starting to take shape. “My predecessor set it up. And the board member before her was already doing a lot of work on this topic individually”, says Caron. She believes in making as many topics as possible open for discussion: “It’s easy for students to drink or laugh their problems away. Talking about them helps.”

Following Lisa’s murder, weekly femicide protests in Rotterdam and the national ‘We claim the night’ campaign against violence towards women, the Netherlands is on high alert. Student societies are also asking themselves how to make sure their female (and male) members get home safely.

RSC/RVSV came up with the idea of a WhatsApp group for each neighbourhood. “So you can always message someone nearby to cycle home with you”, explains Stijnis. The society also plans to hang up posters from the ‘We claim the night’ campaign in their building.

At Laurentius, it’s the house committee’s responsibility to ensure members leave the building safely. On society nights, two committee members are always stationed at the door to order an Uber for any student too drunk to get home alone, or to make sure someone cycles with a female member. This is also covered during the introduction period (KMT), says Verspoor: “During the wellbeing moment, bros and chicks are separated to talk about mental and financial wellbeing, but also about social safety and transgressive behaviour. We stress that they should never go home alone, and that cycling is safer than walking.”

SSR’s KMT also includes a wellbeing moment, where first-years are strongly encouraged not to cycle home alone. “The standard is that someone has to cycle home with you. We really drill that into them”, says Kok. The society uses a buddy system to ensure this: every new member is assigned a more senior buddy who is responsible for making sure they get home safely or have a place to sleep in the city if they don’t yet have housing. For now, the board is handling buddy duties. “Just yesterday, we got a first-year home safely in the cargo bike.” Once the society’s disputen (subgroups) are formed in October, that responsibility will shift to the more senior members of each group. “Thanks to our dispuut structure, we can do that. There are never more than forty first-years at the society at the same time.”