One in five Dutch young people have seen a slut-shaming "bang list"

Around 1 in 5 young people have come across a "bang list," which ranks girls and young women based on their appearance or how easy they would be to get in bed. Among student association members, that figure rises to a third. About 4 in 10 young men do not see the harm in such lists, EenVandaag and LINDA found in a survey of 1,300 young people aged 16 to 35.

Young people mostly encountered bang lists during their student days, but several also spoke of lists of underage girls that were passed around at secondary schools. “There was a bang list circulating at my secondary school, including photos of breasts. Some of those photos simply came from the internet. They were accompanied by the name of a girl from the year. They couldn’t defend themselves,” one respondent said.

Another added, “It was at secondary school. The result was that everyone, including me, looked badly at the girls on the list. Now that I am older, I know better. It is outrageous that those vulnerable young girls were pilloried like that.”

WhatsApp is the most commonly used medium for sharing bang lists. About 88 percent of young people who have seen one received it on the messaging app. Snapchat came in a distant second at 24 percent.

Only 1 percent of young people admitted to having shared a bang list. Here, too, the percentage is higher among members of student associations, where the figure reaches 4 percent. Over 400 of the respondents are or were members of a student association.

Some respondents said they do not see the harm in sharing these lists with others. “It’s usually funny to share,” said a male student. That sentiment ranks highest among young men, with 38 percent agreeing that it is not problematic.