When a woman started a group chat to help keep her friends safe at college parties, she was shut down by her college administration.
In a post uploaded to Reddit's Am I The As*hole forum, one woman explained how she started a "hoe union" at her college to help women keep each other safe. When she realized how many of her friends had had bad experiences at college parties, she joked that the women on campus should unionize. What began as a joke, however, turned into a group of dozens of women who agreed not to go to parties with people who had harassed them, among other things. When the men organizing fraternity parties discovered the "union," unfortunately, they reported the group. The woman was then accused of "leading a group that ostracized people" by a school counselor, BuzzFeed reports.
"I'm in a college organization that is also big on partying," she shared in her post. "It can be fun but sadly it can also be risky, most of my friends and I have had bad experiences. As a joke, I said to my friends that we should unionize. But they were 100 percent in on the idea. And we started a 'hoe union.'" The women who joined the union were expected to abide by a set of agreements that determined which parties they would attend.
If u don't know what "hoe union" is, its bascially uni girls who like parties. They started a gc to warn each other + their friends abt Shady Parties* and terrible hosts
— ♠ Cain Sinclair ⚓ (@GunShowTicket) June 11, 2022
Its the coolest shit ever
*: https://t.co/Hx01bIOz7w pic.twitter.com/KsaZx5l32h
Some of the things women agreed to when they joined the union included skipping or leaving parties that let in or were hosted by a group or person who had sexually harassed someone; did not let girls mix their own drinks or pick and open their own beers; was racist, homophobic, fatphobic, or otherwise bigoted about who they let in or were respectful of at the party; tried to enforce a "ratio" of girls to guys; had a reputation for pushing freshmen or inexperienced drinkers to drink heavily. In the beginning, six women joined the union and successfully stuck to their principles.
This is the Hoe Union again, and the power structure is siding with boys ostracized *for their own actions*, again https://t.co/9Qk9whyHcE
— Something Clever (@Somethi38477131) June 21, 2022
Soon enough, the union grew to include 36 members. If something felt "off" at a party, the women would send a group chat message so they could all leave and head to another party or go to someone's apartment. While this was an effective strategy, someone went on to report the "hoe union." Consequently, a school counselor confronted the woman and accused her of "leading a group that ostracized people." Following a tense conversation with the counselor, she was left feeling very upset. She stated, "I then got frustrated and asked why she thought it was appropriate to involve herself in private conversation that happened outside of school and campus, and left."
“Watch out for” lists on high school bathroom walls and college girls organizing “hoe unions” to avoid parties held and attended by known predators on campus are proof that the younger generations already know damn well the adults around them don’t care enough to protect them
— 🦉LOONATHEWRATH🦉in hag hell (@lenasabrewing) June 21, 2022
Although the woman did not receive support from her school administration, fellow Reddit users deeply appreciated the idea of a "hoe union." "I [would] argue that [the administration] really should not be involved in whether or not their students are partying with specific people," the top comment reads. "You are all adults and can choose whether or not to stay somewhere you do not want to be. If anything, I would encourage all the girls to stop going to parties completely if the school feels the need to referee their choices on if they feel safe or not."
Just like with the college "hoe union," a danger list wouldn't be showing on bathroom walls if the school actually took sexual harassment & assault seriously. What we're seeing here a bunch of young femmes saying they've had enough & won't be taking crap any more.
— Grumpy Owl Momma (@owl_momma) June 22, 2022
Once the woman's post went viral, Reddit moderators soon took it down. As it was posted in a forum wherein users comment on whether original posters are "as*holes" or not for their decisions, the moderators explained, "We have no interest in providing a space for anyone to be called an asshole for what they do to protect themselves from sexual assault. This is a question of safety and not up for moral debate. These are important discussions to have, but framing them as an issue about morality rather than about the basics of safety does a disservice to everyone. I understand this is an issue you all are passionate about. We are too. Every reasonable human being is. Which is why insisting that we allow even the opportunity for someone to call this person an asshole for protecting themselves is absolutely not a good thing."
This college student who started a list & group text like that online recently got into trouble with her college. I think she's a hero. https://t.co/Ktw1F2a7Tq
— joules Pass The Equality Act! 💗💙💜 (@joules54228823) June 21, 2022