Yahoo News Oxford University student slammed for trivialising sexual assault by dressing as Harvey Weinstein at party
An Oxford University student has been slammed for trivialising the experience of victims of sexual assault after attending a party dressed as Harvey Weinstein.
According to The Cherwell, Oxford’s student newspaper, the student from the university’s Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) appeared at Weinstein for the college’s ‘horror movie classics’ party.
The move, which reportedly led to the student being asked to leave and later to meet with the college dean, prompted a statement from LMH’s Equalities Committee criticising it as “extremely saddening” and unacceptable.
The statement said: “To trivialise the lived experience of survivors and position their trauma as a part to play within a narrative of ‘humour’ is unacceptable,” reported The Cherwell.
It went on: “This behaviour is rude, insensitive but most importantly extremely damaging” and warned that there would be zero tolerance for such behaviour.
The action was praised by one student on ‘Oxfess’ – a Facebook page where students can post messages anonymously.
Their message thanked the equalities committee for their statement, saying: “I was sexually assaulted by a family member when I was about 10 years old. This man has a very strong resemblance to Harvey Weinstein.
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“Now, some people might think it’s ridiculous of me but when I keep hearing about these allegations and seeing the articles, it’s very upsetting for me. So for someone to come to the bop dressed as him is beyond disrespectful.”
The student said they hadn’t attended the party but they didn’t know what they would have done if they had but hoped they had learned their lesson.
(Top picture: AP)
