Forced to the ground for occupying a university building last week, three Sheffield Hallam undergraduates have refused to abandon their indoor protest.<\/p>\n
They are demanding students receive a rent rebate for their second term and that sexual violence allegations are taken seriously by the university.<\/p>\n
Part of a wider collective named Sheffield Hallam Uni Rent Strike Group, the steadfast occupiers also outlined how security staff in university housing had allegedly committed verbally sexual misconduct against three different students.<\/p>\n
“On two separate occasions at the same accommodation, two different girls have gone to security to complain about an incident, and they\u2019ve been told that\u2019s what they get for being pretty,” said one occupier, 20, who wished to remain anonymous for concern of the university\u2019s retaliation to the occupation.<\/p>\n
“There\u2019s also one other person who was catcalled by security who said ‘That\u2019s a nice outfit, it would look better on my bedroom floor,'” the Politics student added.<\/p>\n
A member of the SHU Rent Strike Group set up in December 2020, the undergraduate revealed how the group\u2019s WhatsApp chat had enabled students to vocalise their bad experiences.<\/p>\n
Of the three undergraduates who secured Hallam\u2019s Cantor building with bike locks at 6pm last Thursday, the Politics student and another male first year were charged at and forced to the floor by security staff as they managed to regain entry.<\/p>\n