Four students from Utrecht to be prosecuted for distributing slut shaming list

Four students from Utrecht are going to be prosecuted for distributing a “bangalijst.” The four men, all members of the Utrecht Student Corps (USC), are suspected of distributing a “document with offensive content,” according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office. The so-called "bangalijst" contained names, photos, and in some cases addresses and phone numbers of members of the women’s association UVSV. Sexist comments accompanied the photos.

The four suspects are accused of sharing the “bangalijst,” translated to slut list in English, with other students. This led to the list being posted on the internet and ending up in chat groups. According to the Public Prosecution Service (OM), it is unclear who is responsible for this occurring.

The “bangalijst” circulated last year. Six suspects came forth out of the investigation, with four of these now being prosecuted. The other two, also members of the USC, did not share the list with others, according to the OM. For this reason, the cases against them have been dismissed.

This has been to the anger of the victims' attorneys, who feel that all six men should be prosecuted. Lawyers Ina Brouwer and Otto Volgenant believe that all six suspects created the list and forwarded it to each other. According to the lawyers, by doing so, they took the risk that it would be distributed to a wider group.

In response to the incident, both Utrecht University and Utrecht University of Applied Sciences suspended subsidies to USC and barred its representatives from official events for the remainder of the year.

The OM added that they have also investigated a second “Bangalijst.” This list was circulating shortly after the first one. A man in his 20s from Groningen was arrested in connection with the list a year ago.

It was also revealed at his arrest that he allegedly pressured one of the female victims’ lawyers to quit her work. The legal case against the man from Groningen, who is suspected of doxing, threats, and coercion, will be heard by the court at a later date. According to the OM, he has no further connection to the Utrecht student community.