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Oxbridge freshers to get classes on ‘how not to rape’ to help combat ‘lad culture’

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First-year students at Oxford and Cambridge universities will be given classes on how not to rape during Fresher’s Week this year.

The prestigious universities are just two among a number of British institutions putting on consent classes in a bid to stamp out perceived “lad culture”.

The compulsory classes at Oxford are aimed, in particular, at rugby players who risk being banned from university teams if they fail to attend.

Students will be taught that it is rape if the victim is drunk and that consent must be given, and can be withdrawn.

At Cambridge, students can choose to opt out of the workshops.

Orla White, 21, vice president for women at Oxford University, is in charge of running the lessons.

“The classes are really important to initiate conversations around consent,” she said.

“They break taboos and encourage discussions which didn’t happen in sex education at school.

“The feedback we get is extremely positive because students can discuss the issues in a safe environment with people their own age.”

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London School of Economics, Warwick, Cardiff, Leeds, Queen Mary University of London, Sussex and Bradford have all put on similar classes.

But they are not without controversy.

George Lawlor, 20, a student at Warwick, said: “If you need to be taught what is and what is not consent by the age of 18, a 90 minute seminar at the start of university is not going to fix that.

"Most people at university know exactly how to treat other people and would never take advantage of someone, whether they’re drunk or not.”

Many students in York who attended similar classes staged an organised walkout.

In September last year, the government ordered an inquiry into reducing violence against women at universities over concerns “lad culture”.

Research last year also suggested that a third of all female students in Britain have endured a sexual assault or unwanted advances at university.