JOKES about rape, inappropriate touching and sexist language from men are some of the issues highlighted by young women in a short film to mark International Women’s Day.

Students at Durham University are calling out the unacceptable behaviour shown by some male students against female students and the need for everyone to challenge it where they ‘see it and hear it’.

It follows outrage last year at abhorrent, degrading public comments made by some male students last year in online chats and ties in with the IWD theme #ChooseToChallenge

Darlington and County Durham’s Rape and Sexual Abuse Counselling Centre has welcomed the challenge to toxic behaviour taken by Collingwood College Football Club.

WARNING: Some of the content could be triggering for survivors

Soundtrack: benmusic.com

Isabel Owens, deputy chief executive, at RSACC, said: “We are really pleased that the students have taken this step to shout out the toxic behaviour that supports sexual violence against women.

“The more accepting we are of individuals telling rape jokes or turning a blind eye when a woman gets groped at a night out, the easier it is for sexual violence to happen.

“Rape doesn’t just occur in a dark alley somewhere between strangers, it happens every day to women in their homes, their university accommodation, at parties and in their friends houses.

“We hear everyday about the pain, trauma, guilt and shame experienced by sexual violence survivors.

“Our work helps them to cope with what happened to them.

“Films like this one, clearly show that the perpetrator is the only person responsible for sexual violence, and that we all need to challenge the type of behaviour that can lead to rape.”

The film includes executive members of CCAFC, all of whom are students at Durham University’s Collingwood College.

The football club’s charity secretary Dan Aichen said: “The members of CCAFC’s Exec are fully committed to challenging the toxic rape culture that is highly prevalent at Durham University.

“We want to take full advantage of our partnership with RSACC and our large platform to start changing the culture at Durham to a safer, more inclusive one for everyone.

“We hope that this video will help kickstart the education and awareness process for the students in our club, college, and wider university community.”

If any sexual violence survivor needs professional and expert advice and support, they can call RSACC’s confidential helpline on 0300-222-5730, Monday to Thursday 10am-2pm and Tuesday and Thursday 6.30pm-9pm.