Woman Sparks Debate After 'Smacking' A Man Who Groped Her In A Nightclub

A woman has sparked a debate after 'smacking' a man who groped her in a night club.

Harriet, 21, from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, told of her ordeal on Twitter after she hit a man for touching her inappropriately.

She explained: "I smacked a lad last night who sexually assaulted me in the club, and he looked genuinely furious and shocked? Normalise girls standing up for themselves when they get groped wtf."

Twitter/@harribowley)

Harriet added: "So it's absolutely fine for you, as a stranger, to touch me up without consent but not ok for me to touch you in self defence. Okkkk...

"Also the best part about this is I was literally wearing a massive jumper round my waist so wasn't wearing anything 'revealing' at all. Before any idiots start to try justify groping strangers in clubs."

The tweet has gained over 22.7k likes and 1.6k retweets with many other people coming forward and sharing similar experiences.

One Twitter user commented: "A very similar thing happened to me last weekend. I walked past the bar and someone slapped my arse, one of the bar ladies saw it and told the bouncer and they kicked him out and he put up a huge fight. I just don't understand what they get out of it!???"

Another tweeted: "I kicked out of a club once because I punched a guy in the face after he put his hand up my dress! This was about 10 years ago. I regret nothing!"

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While we would never advocate putting yourself in a dangerous situation, legally, you are allowed to defend yourself with violence if you feel "reasonable force" is being used against you, which is assessed on a case-by-case basis, should it go to court.

Touching somebody sexually without their consent is sexual assault, and can also be classed as a misogyny hate crime.

In fact, a similar incident occurred in Nottingham back in 2018, catapulting the issue into the spotlight.

Speaking to the BBC at the time, Pat Reeve, then 34, said: "I don't endorse violence at all, though I do endorse the right to self-defence and a woman's right to agency over her own body and who's allowed to touch it.

"Post the #MeToo movement I think there's much less patience for this kind of behaviour and people would like to see it challenged on a more regular basis."

And she received a flurry of support, with the police even speaking out and insisting that more people in similar situations should feel comfortable to come forward and report the perpetrators who have groped them.

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"People have been really supportive of the way I reacted to the situation and really interesting discussions have opened up as a result," she said.

"On nights out I think often sexual harassment and assault is a way of men 'trying their luck' in a club, they often don't think of it as an offence."

Much like Pat, Harriet hopes her experience will encourage women to stand up for themselves.

"I just hope it encourages girls to stand up for themselves instead of letting these men get away with it," Harriet told Tyla.

Whether it's reporting somebody to the police, asking them to leave you alone or carrying out an act of necessary self defence, it can't be denied that women standing their ground is something to celebrated.

Topics: Real, Life, No-Article-Matching

Charlie Bell