Amsterdam student assoc. investigated for misogynistic statements

There will be an investigation into statements made during a celebration of the lustrum of the Amsterdamsch Studenten Corps and the Amsterdamsche Vrouwen Studenten Vereeniging on Sunday evening. Heleen Vos, chairman of the Amsterdam student association A.S.C./A.V.S.V., said in a letter on Monday.

Hundreds of members feel unsafe after speeches during the Lustrum. Women were referred to as “semen buckets” and called “nothing more than a whore.” Men would “break women’s necks to stick their dicks in.” A board member also allegedly called the intended cultural change at the corps a facade and sees the association members as elevated above society.

Vos disapproves of the events and said that she has experienced the “female-unfriendly, discriminatory words of the speakers and others in the room as shocking and hurtful.” “The content is absolutely incompatible with our association's standards and values.” Four speakers, including the senator, who have “expressed themselves in an unacceptable way,” were not allowed to attend the end of the lustrum celebration on Monday evening.

Several female students also didn’t attend on Monday. They stayed away because they feel unsafe after the statements. “Words cannot describe what it does to us female members, to be described so disrespectfully by our male members at our own Men’s and Women’s dinner - which should be a festive occasion,” can be read in a mail from women of the A.V.S.V. The over 270 co-signers state that they are done with sexism.

Vos said that the Senate received “an awful lot” of messages on Monday from members who disapprove of the events. “I am pleased with that. It shows that a large part of the association not only knows how to distinguish bad behavior from good behavior but also speaks out en masse against misconduct and agrees with the direction in which the association wants to and will move.”

This is not the first time the A.S.C./A.V.S.V. has faced controversy. Last September, abuses occurred in which prospective members faced extreme humiliation and assault during hazing. The association stopped the introduction period and started working on a new culture. It drew up a code of contact about moral boundaries, norms, values, and manners within the corps. It also included a duty to report misconduct. At the end of June, the association’s Senate said it expects a safe introductory period this academic year.