Sheffield woman urges others to speak up after she ‘smacked’ man who groped her at nightclub

Harriet Bowley, 21, who took to Twitter in a post that has now gone viral is urging people to report incidents if they are indecently assauted.

She tweeted: "I smacked a lad last night who sexually assaulted me in the club, and he looked genuinely furious and shocked?

She continued: "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 justify groping stangers in clubs."

Speaking to The Star, the Sheffield Hallam University student said the man was "very shocked and angry" as she chose to stand up for herself.

"(This) suggests he'd usually have expected to get away with it with zero consequences. Hopefully it would make him think twice about doing it to the next girl," she said.

The incident however did not surprise her because this was not her first encounter being sexually assaulted.

She said: "Unfortunately, as a woman, I have encountered sexual assault on numerous occasions, so I would not say I am shocked when it happens.

"I feel it's been normalised in society and a lot of young women are told to 'expect it', especially in bars and nightclubs.

"However, this should not be expected at all and there should be consequences to these people's actions."

Her tweet, which has now gained over 24,000 likes and 1,600 retweets, has also seen support from other victims who could relate to her experience.

But some tried to pin the blame on her and asked if her outfits that night "were asking for it" while others suggested that violence wasn't the answer.

She said: "I explained what I was wearing when the tweet began to gain traction as I knew I would be hit with the questions 'What were you wearing though?' and 'Were you asking for it?' "Unfortunately so many people today still believe that clothes equal consent when they don't; it's a very outdated argument that should have never been an argument in the first place.

"The problem is not what the victims wear, the problem is the people who sexual assault."

Harriet said although she did not take up with the management or the police after the incident as the man disappeared after what happened, she would encourage others to report it to the authorities.

"I would advise women/men in this situation to always defend themselves, verbally, physically or by reporting them to someone of authority.

"Never put yourself in danger, however don't let the actions go unnoticed. Together, if we point out that groping is wrong every time it happens, they will hopefully learn it is NOT ok to touch people without consent.

“People who have been found to sexually assault in bars should be banned, with sufficient evidence.”

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