The Vice Chancellor, YUSU and GSA Presidents, and the North Yorkshire Police Senior Operational Commander for York and Selby have sent an email to all students on student safety on nights out.
This comes after increased concerns around incidents of spiking both in York and nationally.
In the email, support available to students to report incidents is highlighted, including a specific system to report concerns about Official Student Club Nights to YUSU, and the University’s Report and Support tool.
The University, SUs, and Police stated that spiking would not be tolerated, with the email saying: “We would like to remind you that the act of spiking has many forms.
“Whilst for many of you it will bring to mind spiking of drinks with drugs and spiking by injection, it also encompasses things like adding alcohol to non-alcoholic drinks or deceiving someone into thinking a treble shot of alcohol is actually a single.
“These acts are illegal, and can be equally as dangerous, and will not be tolerated in our venues or elsewhere in our community. There does not have to be any further crime e.g. sexual assault or theft; the spiking in itself is crime.
“Please keep an eye out for your friends, calling out any behaviours you know to be wrong if you see them happening in action. You can report misconduct to the University, either with your contact details, or anonymously through the Report + Support tool.”
The email also urged students to seek assistance if someone is in danger, by alerting the venue bar or security staff or reporting any crime to North Yorkshire Police online or by calling 101 (calling 999 in an emergency).
North Yorkshire Police say they are delivering training to venue staff “to prevent and reduce sexual violence and vulnerability in the Night Time Economy and beyond.
“The Police continue to make enquiries with NHS partners to clarify their policy in terms of testing and strenuously encourage the reporting of suspected spiking incidents.”