Students at a London university have declared they are no longer wearing skirts and dresses over fears of being upskirted both on and off campus.
The students, who attend Queen Mary University (QMUL) in Mile End, east London, said they felt ‘violated’ and ‘scared’ after a camera was found under a desk last month.
The incident led the university to launch an investigation, stating that it was a ‘serious matter…as part of which we have reported the incident to the police’.
The students’ comments come after a rise in reports of upskirting, an incident where someone takes a picture under another person’s clothing without their knowledge or consent.
One student at Queen Mary University London, Lara Spellbrink, a 21-year-old English student, told Metro: ‘I don’t wear dresses or skirts, even in the summer, because I know people film me.
‘It makes you feel like a sex object…it makes me feel sad I do not have any control
‘It is a double standard. No matter if a man had a six-pack out in the street I would never film someone at random.’
Fellow QMUL student Naomi Labrode, 18, described how last summer, an older man filmed her on the bus while she was out and about in London.
While he didn’t upskirt her, she said ’you can always tell when they are trying to be sly but you know they are recording you’, she added she felt violated by the incident.
She told Metro: ‘I was filmed on a bus when I was wearing just a normal sundress. It made me feel really dirty and grossed out.
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‘The eye of the camera brings more intimacy, it violates so much of your privacy.’
QMUL students found a secret camera hidden underneath a desk in the Graduate Centre – one of the university’s study spaces – and reported it to staff.
In an email to students last month, QMUL said they had immediately removed the camera and continue to ‘take all necessary steps to investigate the issue.’
One female student said she did not know what upskirting was until the email had been sent by the university.
Another female first-year student who spoke to Metro said she had heard the camera feed was live-streamed to an exclusive group chat – – but the university said they found no evidence to support this claim.
The first-year student, who declined to be named, said: ‘I can’t imagine how violated those women must feel. ’
‘I also can’t figure out how no one saw him whoever did it when there is so much security and CCTV in the buildings.’
All the students said they were surprised when they heard a camera had been found on campus.
They said a lack of sex education in schools means not everyone is aware of upskirting or its risks, nor that it is a criminal offence.
Upskirting became illegal in England and Wales in 2019 after a long campaign led by Gina Martin, upskirting victim turned activist.
Last month, Metro revealed more than 200 reports of upskirting incidents had taken place on trains since 2021.
Naomi said: ‘I was half educated in India and half in the UK and didn’t have any sexual education lessons.
‘Sex in so many cultures is taboo so they shut off sex education.
‘When people come to university here so many don’t know what things mean… a boy I know didn’t even know what an STI was.’
Lara added: ‘People don’t take horrible things that happen every day actually seriously or try to change them.
‘The issues are trivialised and men do not feel a sense of responsibility or wrongdoing.’
‘It is a double standard. No matter if a man had a six-pack out in the street I would never film someone at random.’
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‘At age six a boy lifts up your skirt in the playground and the teacher tells them it is wrong but some boys clearly grow up to people who do not feel they have to stop doing that’
The students said many of their male peers only learnt about sex through pornographic sites which meant they remained ‘confused, curious and misled’ about sex and consent.
They also saw social media content as a core reason the situation had not been resolved, stating online group chats and the influence of porn was making ‘filming women without their consent trendy.’
Naomi said: ‘They don’t see a problem in acting this way or sharing this stuff because that is what all their friends do and it is what they see online.’
Students noted how hard it was to hold engaging discussions with their peers when discussing sexual harassment and assault issues.
Lara said: ‘It makes me really upset that women and men turn on each other’
‘This issue is harmful to men as well…they are building their own cage to be trapped in.’
A spokesperson for Queen Mary University of London said: ‘Last month, security colleagues found a camera under a desk in one of our student areas.
‘They immediately removed the camera, which did not contain a memory card, was not connected to any other device and appears not to have been connected to any wireless network.
‘No other devices were found following a scan of study spaces across the University, which we continue to monitor.
‘The safety and security of our Queen Mary community is our number one priority. We continue to investigate this serious matter thoroughly, as part of which we have reported the incident to the police.
‘Support is available to our students and staff, including through our dedicated, 24/7 student wellbeing helpline and our advice and counselling service.’
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