Club nights, messy situationships and embarrassing Hinge stories are often all part of the university experience, and Durham students are no exception.
Loads of drunk 18-year-olds being thrown together in the same halls and unleashed onto the party scene breeds all kinds of bizarre behaviour, and sharking was a pretty common occurrence amongst my group of friends in first year.
For those who don’t know what “sharking” is, it’s a slang term used at uni when an older student romantically pursues a younger student, usually an 18 to 19-year-old fresher.
When I started at Durham, I’d say most of the time, at that age, it seemed unproblematic. It was just a normal, relatable thing that happened – especially to women. Now, as an old and wise fourth year, I have grown to view sharking differently.
So, The Durham Tab wanted to ask the question: Is sharking inherently bad? And after investigating the issue, the only clarity I’ve got is that this is a pretty divisive and morally grey topic.
What do Durham students actually think about sharking?
The Durham Tab surveyed Durham students on sharking, recording 90 responses across colleges. 63 per cent were from women, 31 per cent were from men, and two per cent were from non-binary participants. Of this demographic, 30 per cent were first years, 36 per cent were second years, 22 per cent were third years, and 12 per cent were fourth years.
Students were asked: “What is your opinion on sharking (an older student getting with a first year)?”. The results showed 24 per cent of participants think “We are all adults, it is fine”, and 11 per cent believe “It’s not okay”. Interestingly, the most popular answer by far was the more nuanced approach: “It depends on the person” at 63 per cent.
Respondents were also given the option to provide a comment on their personal views of sharking. Seamus Barker, a second year, believes the distinction lies in the intentions of the older student. He said: “There’s definitely a difference between accidentally hooking up with someone only to find they’re a year or two younger than you, and deliberately going after someone because they’re inexperienced at uni life and have been living away from home for just a few weeks.”
Nicola White, a fourth year, thinks that whilst sharking can sometimes work out, there’s often something “dodgy” about the circumstances surrounding it. She said: “It does depend and works out well in a rare few circumstances, but it’s hard not to see something weird about people who have been at university for many years getting with 18-year-old freshers who are experiencing alcohol for the first time. Very dodgy vibes”.
Another student, who wished to remain anonymous, offered a different take, saying that viewing sharking as predatory infantilises freshers. “People need to grow up about it. Freshers aren’t some sort of protected species that can’t make informed decisions; they’re young adults.”
“As a 21-year-old, I no longer have much in common with them so I have no interest in getting with them. Really nothing wrong with anyone else who wants to, though. A lot of people on some morality high horse,” they said.
Others agreed, sharing views like “people make too much of a big deal out of it”.
The ‘Red Zone’ and the vulnerability of freshers
Heavy drinking increases the risk of sexual assault during the ‘Red Zone’ via Canva
The “Red Zone” is the six-to-10-week timeframe when many students are celebrating their return to uni, and it’s also where 50 per cent of sexual assaults occur on campuses. Records show new students are especially vulnerable during this period due to their unfamiliarity with the campus, new social experiences, and the known resources available to survivors.
In The Durham Tab’s survey on sharking, 51 per cent of university students addressed the lack of maturity and life experience that freshers have and the vulnerability this entails – coinciding with the known “Red Zone”.
Risks increase with heavy drinking; alcohol is the tool most commonly used by perpetrators of sexual assault, and it was present in 39 per cent of cases reported to Durham Uni between 2023 and 2024. Perpetrators often encourage alcohol consumption to incapacitate their victims, and use it themselves to make it easier to engage in disinhibited or aggressive acts and shift blame.
The Durham Tab spoke to Safe Education, who believe the current light-hearted discourse around sharking may perpetuate a harmful uni culture. A spokesperson said: “Sharking at university, whilst seemingly harmless, unfortunately trivialises much deeper concerns over sexual culture at learning institutions”. They added that “dating across year groups is of course healthy and normal”, but only when founded on respect, communication and consent.
Avesta Afshari-Mehr told The Durham Tab about his experience being sharked, saying the older student tried to become friends with him and insisted on following him home. This was despite Avesta expressing his discomfort with the suggestion.
The older student excused his behaviour, allegedly saying he was helping “a first year new to the city”. “It really ruined my mental health and made it difficult to talk to anyone in the year above in a romantic/sexual context without a concern for being exploited again,” Avesta added.
A Durham University spokesperson said: “We know that some of our students experience sexual misconduct and violence, which is why we have invested significantly in tackling what is a very concerning societal and sector-wide issue.
“We have a proactive approach to raising awareness of sexual misconduct and violence with every applicant and student, being clear what are acceptable behaviours and what are not.
“Sexual misconduct and violence have no place at Durham. We will shortly be embarking upon a new campaign, developed with our students, confronting unacceptable behaviours, supporting those affected, and embedding a culture of respect and safety across our community.”
The freps and the college parents
Freps and college parents are roles devised by the uni to help first years integrate into Durham, providing a clear support network for newcomers. However, in some cases, this backfires. Every year, I’ve heard accounts of freps and college parents pursuing first years romantically – a dynamic that usually has a clear power imbalance, even when the fresher consents.
One Durham student, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “Freps would walk you to the clubs. And we were like: ‘Is it that bad?’ Sadly it was […] it was scary. And the whole idea of sharking, to be wary that older boys are going to come try and get with you and you’re going to be little freshers. Even the name shark – I was terrified.”
Another student, who also requested anonymity, told The Durham Tab: “In my first year, I found out one of the freps had a crush on me (so had clearly been telling other people). I’ve never been able to look at him the same way, but thankfully getting a boyfriend protected me from a shark attack.”
Nine per cent of survey respondents also addressed the power dynamics between freshers with freps and college parents.
A Durham University spokesperson said: “Freshers’ Representatives volunteer to help new undergraduates settle well into their college and the university. We greatly appreciate the contribution they make, alongside staff, common room leaders, and others. They are subject to the behavioural expectations set out in our FREP Framework, and their activity is overseen by college staff. If any student has any concerns, we would encourage them report them to us.”
Could the uni be doing more to prevent this?
Freshers are most at risk of sharking turning into predatory behaviour, so first years must be provided with a clear and effective reporting system.
Oliwia Charowska, the graduate founder of Safe Education, spoke to The Durham Tab about improvements Durham could make to tackle these issues, saying “universities should provide clearer guidance on power imbalances”
Oliwia continued: “This would help promote healthy, equitable relationships and create safer campus environments”.
Durham University’s reporting form currently offers some definitions of sexual misconduct, and it briefly refers to abuse of power, which is defined as: “Misuses of power enacted by academic, professional, contracted, and temporary staff in their relations with students or misuses of power between students who have unequal institutional power”.
This definition is comprehensive in terms of relationships between staff and students, but that’s the caveat: It only talks about relationships between staff and students. I believe implementing student-held positions of power into this category would be beneficial.
The list of potential outcomes for perpetrators in the sexual misconduct policy and its related documents also seems to be unclear in its current state. Durham’s Sexual Misconduct and Violence Policy: Procedure for Staff and Students, outlines the action taken when a Category 2 offence has been proven: “They will refer the matter to the chair or deputy chair of Senate Discipline Committee as an alleged Category 2 offense under paragraph 8.1 of the University’s Non-Academic Misconduct Disciplinary Procedure”. The information provided feels spread out and, at times, needlessly complicated, with some of the footnotes provided in the policy document resulting in a “page not found” message.
This could potentially impact whether or not students choose to report. Worse still, this system could further embolden consequence-free perpetrators.
Serena Chamberlain wrote her dissertation on sexual violence at Durham University, and reported few consequences for perpetrators. “All [12] interviewees reported personal or known cases of sexual violence, yet only one aggressor faced consequences,” her research found.
A Durham University spokesperson said: “The 2024 undergraduate student dissertation is based on 12 interviews. We publish the outcomes of our Senate Discipline Committee, including those relating to sexual misconduct and violence. We are always talking with our students to understand their experiences here at Durham, and any concerns they may have, including in this area through our Sexual Misconduct and Violence Operations Group.
“As part of this, we have engaged extensively with the Safe Education group around their concerns.”
Not all men sharks
While sharking can be a predatory thing, this obviously doesn’t apply to all relationship dynamics. There are lots of successful, healthy relationships that have started while students were still just silly fresh.
If you’re one of the sharks of Durham that did not intentionally target a person for their lack of experience and their vulnerability, don’t worry, you’re okay. You got with a fresh in Klute and forgot to ask what year they’re in – totally fine. If it’s late in the year and your fresher crush has fully adjusted to uni life? Also totally fine.
For more of the latest news, guides, gossip, and memes, follow The Durham Tab on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.
