Young farmers have a ‘problem’ with the way they treat women, with sexual assault ‘commonplace’ it has been claimed.
Abi Kay, a female editor at the respected Farmer’s Weekly magazine, has accused young farmers of treating women like ‘toys’.
She said incidents of sexual assault appear to be ‘commonplace’ at the events held by the rural youth organisation Young Farmers in which there are ‘no rules’.
The agricultural journalist said men in the farming industry don’t seem to be held ‘accountable’ in the same way as other men as many girls reported being ‘grabbed and groped’ at the parties.
Writing in the latest edition of Farmers Weekly, Ms Kay said she had asked young women on the social media platform, TikTok, ‘what happens at Young Farmers?’.
In response, she was told ‘Sex, drugs, alcohol‘.
‘This is certainly not the image the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs (NFYFC) would want to portray,’ she said.
Abi Kay, a female editor at the respected Farmer’s Weekly magazine, has accused young farmers of treating women like ‘toys’
She said incidents of sexual assault appear to be ‘commonplace’ at the events held by the rural youth organisation Young Farmers in which there are ‘no rules’ (Stock Image)
The deputy editor said she loves farming and had spent her life advocating for it which she is extremely ‘proud’ to do.
‘But as a staunch friend, I have a duty to be honest with you,’ she continued.
‘Even when – perhaps especially when – it is uncomfortable.
‘So I will say it straight: young farmers, you have a problem.
‘And the problem is the way some of you are treating the women in your community.’
Young Farmers has more than 23,000 members. It promises to support young people in agriculture and the countryside and also help them ‘enjoy a dynamic social life’ with regular social events organised for young people.
Ms Kay said her attention was first drawn to this issue when she was noticed T-shirts at a Young Farmer event held in Blackpool, Lancashire, earlier this month.
T-shirts included ‘I can run faster horny than you can scared’, ‘For the sporting birds I can tighten the choke’, and ‘BBF – Back British Farming or Bring Back Fingering, I’m an advocate for both’.
The journalist said she also saw photographs of girls at the event with ‘slut’ written on their arms and ‘free head’ written on their foreheads.
She continued: ‘What I found was that girls attending such events have learned to expect that they will be grabbed and groped.
‘It has become part and parcel of the culture.
‘The kind of incidents that were described to me as commonplace are, in fact, classed as sexual assault, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Ms Kay said she was told by two girls that at these events ‘there are no rules’.
‘It is still astonishing that many farming women expect the men in their communities to display a lower standard of behaviour than other men,’ she continued.
Ms Kay previously worked at Farmers Guardian as Head of News, and in the NFU’s government and parliamentary affairs team.
Ms Kay said her attention was first drawn to this issue when she was noticed T-shirts at a Young Farmer event held in Blackpool, Lancashire, earlier this month (Stock Image)
She began her career in Parliament, where she worked for six years, and has won a number of accolades for agricultural journalism.
The National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs said in a statement: ‘NFYFC is deeply saddened to learn that cases of sexual harassment or assault which have occurred at events/activities held by the YFC at a national, county or club level have not been reported.
‘Behaviour of this nature is unacceptable in YFC and all reported cases are always treated extremely seriously by NFYFC.
‘The safety and safeguarding of our members is paramount and NFYFC is committed to ensuring every member is safe while taking part in those activities.
‘NFYFC has robust safeguarding policies, training and procedures in place.
‘YFC members who have been affected by an incident at a YFC event should report it to their club or county designated safeguarding officer, or to the NFYFC safeguarding team.’