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    Sexual assault ‘commonplace’ at Young Farmers socials
    United Kingdom

    Sexual assault ‘commonplace’ at Young Farmers socials

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    1. TheTelegraph on

      **From The Telegraph:**

      Sexual assaults are now “commonplace” at Young Farmers social events, the editor of Farmers Weekly has claimed.

      Writing in the latest edition of the industry magazine, Abi Kay said men in farming did not appear to be held accountable for their actions compared with other parts of society.

      She said she had asked young women on TikTok, the social media platform: “What happens at Young Farmers?” to which she was told: “Sex, drugs, alcohol.”

      Ms Kay wrote: “What I found was that girls attending such events have learned to expect that they will be [grabbed and groped](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sexual-assault/). It has become part and parcel of the culture. 

      “The kind of incidents that were described to me as commonplace are, in fact, classed as sexual assault, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

      “Worse still, several of the women said while they would have an issue with this behaviour outside young farmers’ events, they did not see it as problematic at these events, because they had a ‘different set of rules’,” she said.

      “This is certainly not the image the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs [NFYFC] would want to portray,” she added.

      # ‘Not held to account’

      Young Farmers, which has approximately 23,000 members around the UK, promises to support young people in agriculture and the countryside and also helps them “enjoy a dynamic social life”.

      Ms Kay said issues around the treatment of women in the industry were first drawn to her attention when she noticed slogan T-shirts being worn at a Young Farmers event held in Blackpool, Lancashire, earlier this month.

      The slogans included “I can run faster horny than you can scared” and “For the sporting birds I can tighten the choke”.

      She said she also saw photographs of girls at the event with “slut” written on their arms.

      She continued in the article: “It is still astonishing that many farming women expect the men in their communities to display a lower standard of behaviour than other men.

      “They are not being held accountable in the same way.

      “It is hard to believe that this behaviour, at industry entry-level, will not have long-lasting consequences.”

      A spokesman for the NFYFC told Farmers Weekly: “NFYFC is deeply saddened to learn that cases of sexual harassment or assault which have occurred at events/activities held by the YFC at a national, county or club level have not been reported.

      “Behaviour of this nature is unacceptable in YFC and all reported cases are always treated extremely seriously by NFYFC.

      “The safety and safeguarding of our members is paramount and NFYFC is committed to ensuring every member is safe while taking part in those activities.

      “NFYFC has robust safeguarding policies, training and procedures in place.

      “YFC members who have been affected by an incident at a YFC event should report it to their club or county designated safeguarding officer,  or to the NFYFC safeguarding team.”

      **Article Link:** [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/06/03/sexual-assault-commonplace-at-young-farmers-socials/](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/06/03/sexual-assault-commonplace-at-young-farmers-socials/)

    2. PornFilterRefugee on

      Not very surprising unfortunately. As someone who lives in a rural area the Young Farmers tend to essentially be drunken horny teens/young adults who pretty much just get together to drink and shag each other.

      Edit: unfair to characterise Young Farmers as just that as they do do a lot of actual farming related events. It is, in my experience, fair to say that the parties and socials Young Farmers do have often do turn out to be very debauched.

    3. Reverend_Vader on

      > She said she had asked young women on tick tock

      And that’s where i stopped reading

      serious topics need serious sources

    5. Bigtallanddopey on

      I come from a farming background, and young farmers was just not for me, because of this and other things. I also went to a university with strong rural links and that was the same, I hated my time in halls as a lot of the guys there were absolute pricks, and many girls for that matter.

      At events and nights out before and during uni, I have witnessed guys putting hands up girls skirts, taking girls tops off, exposing themselves. Girls have been with several men at once and videos then circulated. It’s not nice behaviour to witness. Of course it happens outside of farming, but it is so common in the farming community it’s embarrassing.

      Why the girls put up with it, is beyond me. Although, I do believe many are just so desperate to “bag” a farmer, that they just go along with it.

    6. WalnutOfTheNorth on

      We used to do a promotional thing at the Great Yorkshire Show and it was a very early start. Our marketing manager and his assistant thought it would speed things up if they camped there over night to prep stuff in the morning. When we arrived the next day he looked like he wanted to kill himself. Apparently there’d been farmers racing land rovers through the campsite in the early hours, smashed spirits bottles all over the place, farmers shagging drunken girls out in the open, including in the porch bit of his tent while he tried to sleep, and more. The headline comes as no surprise after that eye opener.

    8. miemcc on

      So this appears to be a journalists opinion on the behaviour rather than an analysis of reported crimes. Not excusing the behaviour, it does appear to be a bit abhorrent to me personally, but is it much worse than Freshers Week, the old 18-30 holidays, or other events where there are lots of young men and women and lots of alcohol?

    9. nj813 on

      No supprise at all honestly. I know of one young farmer who got a reduced sentence after grooming a schoolgirl because they “led an insular life and it may be that you are not worldly wise” i genuinely think the young farmers organisation needs pulling apart and better education for these people are needed