The Family Education Trust (FET) has warned that university ‘kink’ and ‘BDSM’ clubs are putting young students in danger and potentially normalising “sexual fantasies involving children and animals”.
While such clubs have been present on campuses for a while – the University of Durham’s fetish club, for instance, has been going for at the least a decade – it was an incident at Anglia Ruskin University recently that has provoked renewed concern, The Times recently reported.
First yr students on the Fresher’s Fair were approached by older students from the sexual fetish club, who were running a “Kinkster” stall. The students were invited to whip a rubber dummy that was strapped face-down to a table.
One of the scholars, a young woman, was distressed by the incident but was afraid to report it to the university. The FET said that the prop could fall foul of the university’s policies on harassment and sexual misconduct.
The FET warned that, despite contradictory claims by such clubs that they permit students to perform dangerous acts safely, there are still risks.
“Such clubs claim they assist students explore sexual kinks in a ‘protected way’, but students are highly more likely to have their boundaries eroded and pressured into collaborating in increasingly dangerous and degrading acts,” it said.
Further concerns were raised in regards to the Anglia Ruskin University kink society’s decision to host a “kink test” quiz on its website. According to the FET, the quiz asks people to say whether or not they agree or disagree with statements including, “The idea of torturing someone sexually, is appealing”; “I enjoy dressing or behaving like a toddler, or engaging in child-appropriate activities akin to colouring in or a colouring book or going to a playground”; “I prefer it when my partners plays or acts like a pet animal (dog, cat, pony etc).”
The FET said, “This shouldn’t be ‘empowering’ – it’s sanctioning sexual abuse, in addition to implying that sexual fantasies involving children and animals are acceptable. University authorities are failing to safeguard students by allowing such societies to operate freely.”
Anglia Ruskin student union said: “The union exists to represent and support all students. All registered student societies adhere to our code of conduct and policies, which strictly prohibit activities which can be unsafe, discriminatory or non-consensual, and we have now received no complaints about this society.”
It defended the club’s existence in one other statement posted to its social media: “We understand that conversations around topics akin to kink and sexual expression can provoke strong opinions. However, education and open discussion play a very important role in promoting safety, consent, and wellbeing – particularly for young adults navigating independence for the primary time.”
A University of York spokesman said: “Societies are created and run by students to explore a lot of different interests, across all types of educational, cultural, sporting and social activities.
“Our students’ union is home to lots of of affiliated societies, and given our students are independent adults, they’re free to make your mind up which of them they want to affix or attend.”
The FET is warning against participation in such clubs and is asking universities to take motion.
It said, “There is not any way that sexual fetish clubs can guarantee that such sexual acts won’t cause harm to young students, subsequently university authorities mustn’t allow them to be advertised on campus.”
 has warned that university 'kink' and 'BDSM' clubs...){kind=link}