Sometimes you see a video that is so insanely twatty that you can barely believe that the people in it actually exist. This candid look at members of a notorious Cambridge drinking society shouting ‘rape’ chants in the middle of the day in Oxford city centre is one of those.
The footage, which is being circulated on Facebook and YouTube via the ‘
’ group shows a group of men suspected to be Cambridge drinking group the Wyverns chanting about rape and underage sex. Some – who are out shot from the camera – can be heard singing ‘rape, rape, rape’, ‘she’s too young’ and ’15 years.’
Students writing on the Facebook page claim that the groups clothing and insignia identify the men as members of the drinking group, whose garden party made headlines when it was banned from university grounds for being blatantly sexist. The Cambridge Tab reports that current students currently at the university can be identified in the video.
‘I think they knew they were doing something wrong but it’s the group mentality,' the 22 year old woman who posted the video on Facebook told The Telegraph. 'I spoke to one and said, “Don’t you find this offensive?” He said, “Why is it offensive? We are actually promoting women’s issues.” I was speechless.'
Thames Valley Police have released a statement saying they are investigating the video. ‘We received a call on Sunday which was a report of a group of men using offensive language in Cornmarket Street, Oxford, on Saturday evening at approximately 7.30pm. Our officers are in the early stages of making enquiries.’
And, perhaps unsurprisingly, Cambridge University have also been quick to distance themselves from the group. ‘If indeed these students were from Cambridge, their behaviour is deplorable. The colleges and university will be investigating.’
But sadly, even if the blokes are found - and dealt with accordingly, it's another sign of the misogyny disguised as banter that's sweeping UK campuses at the moment. As Everyday Sexism founder Laura Bates put it when we spoke to her last month, it's dismissing incidents like this as a bit of a joke that's robbing young women (and men, to be fair) of the opportunity to protest. ‘The use of “banter” – this idea of being a lad - that’s definitely something new. It wasn’t there when I was at university and I only graduated in 2010. There’s this inbuilt defence of “you don’t have a sense of humour, it’s only a joke”. And yet, when you look at what they’re saying, it’s violent abuse and it all comes under this strange banner of irony that makes it so hard to fight against.’
Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophiecullinane
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.