A Nigerian lesbian and prominent female student activist, Annie Teriba at the University of Oxford has resigned from her political positions after admitting having sex with another female student which wasn't consensual.
Nigerian Times reports that Annie Teriba, a second-year history and politics student at Wadham College, said she failed to be “attentive to the other person’s body language” during a drunken night at this year’s National Union of Students’ conference for black members.
20 year old Teriba, the editor of a “radical” gay magazine in a statement published by Oxford University Magazine, said: “The other party later informed me that the sex was not consensual. I failed to properly establish consent before every act.
“I apologise sincerely and profoundly for my action.
“In failing to clarify that the person consented to our entire encounter, I have caused serious irreparable harm.”
Teriba, from east London, also admitted that during her first year at the university she had “touched somebody in a sexual manner without their consent” while drunk in a club.
She wrote: “With these incidents I have rightly lost the trust of those who I organise with and fully intend to work to ensure that I both put my politics in practice in my personal relations.”
She added: “It is clear that I lack self-awareness and become sexually entitled when I am drunk. This does not excuse my actions, I am wholly responsible for the damage that I have caused.”
Teriba was appointed as the “lesbian, gay, bi and transsexual women’s representative” at the annual NUS black students’ conference in May.
She has now resigned from the union’s black students committee and the national committee of the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts.
She has also stood down as editor of No HeterOx, which is described as a magazine for “Oxford’s Queer and Trans Voices”, and as the Wadham student union’s “people of colour and racial equality officer”.
See her full statement:
“At this year’s NUS black students’ conference, I had sex with someone. The other party later informed me that the sex was not consensual. I failed to properly establish consent before every act. I apologise sincerely and profoundly for my actions. I should have taken sufficient steps to ensure that everything I did was consensual. I should have been more attentive to the person’s body language. In failing to clarify that the person consented to our entire encounter, I have caused serious irreparable harm.
“In a separate incident, in my first year of university, I was alerted to my inappropriate behaviour whilst drunk in a club, where I had touched somebody in a sexual manner without their consent. Therefore this is not an isolated incident. I apologise sincerely and profoundly for my actions.
“With these incidents I have rightly lost the trust of those who I organise with and fully intend to work to ensure that I both put my politics into practice in my personal relations and to prove to them that I am committed to transformation. As such, it would be wrong of me to accept platforms and access spaces until I have done so.
“In order to ensure the safety of others, I will be taking a number of steps:
i) I breached NUS’s safe spaces policy, so will not be attending future NUS events.
ii) I am resigning from all the political positions I hold – from NCAFC’s National Committee and from the NUS’s black students’ committee, and as editor of the No Heterox** zine and as the people of colour and racial equality officer at Wadham SU, Oxford.
iii) I will be stepping back from prominent campaigning in other forums, including #RhodesMustFall and rs21.
iv) I commit to getting help with how I consume alcohol. It is clear that I lack self-awareness and become sexually entitled when I am drunk. This does not excuse my actions, I am wholly responsible for the damage that I have caused.
v) I commit to educating myself properly about consent by reading zines and other materials which have kindly been made available to me.
vi) I commit to seeking help from perpetrator organisations – for example, I have taken steps to establish contact with RESPECT and will be seeking out organisations who specifically deal with sexual violence.
“I am deeply sorry for the hurt I caused.
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