How bootcamps are training men to manipulate women into sex
Sadly, for most women, girls and femme-presenting people being approached by men in the street is not uncommon. It's a tiring and unacceptable, and it is ingrained naivety around the relentlessness of everyday sexism that means it continues, unabated.
Tonight, BBC Panorama's Myles Bonnar, goes undercover to investigate the terrifying phenomenon of 'Gaming', where men use pressure and manipulation to approach women on the street and persuade them into sex. The documentary lifts the veil on a terrifying and all too present group of so-called 'pick-up coaches' who sell training materials and 'seduction bootcamp' courses which can cost up to £1,500, and promise to teach men a number concerning of tactics on how "cold-approach [of women]", "number farming" and ultimately having sex with women.
In the documentary, Myles interviews a number of women who have been approached by these men, including Beth (pictured above), who was 17 when 37 year-old Adnan Ahmed came up to her and tried persistently to get her phone number.
In the documentary, Myles Bonnar goes undercover on one of these seduction bootcamps, called 'Street Attraction'. He shaves his beard, adopts a fake name and puts a hidden camera in his jacket, so he can film what these men are teaching. The trainers on his bootcamp are two men named Eddie Hitchens and Richard Hood, who take Myles and other men around various streets in London and coach them in talking to women, the ultimate goal being a "same-day-lay".
These men film themselves doing this, calling it "in field footage", and upload their videos to YouTube for other men to learn from. In a video on his other website, Approach2Lay, Hitchens says that in order to get true reactions from women in intimate situations, everything must be filmed "covertly, guerrilla style".
At one point in the documentary, Hitchens encourages Eddie to approach a particular young woman, telling him, "You've got to basically block her path". When Myles objects and says she looks too young and he's not comfortable, Hitchens replies, "It doesn't matter, even if she is underage. It is not illegal to approach someone."
Later, pick up coach Richard Hood sits around a table with the men on the bootcamp and teaches them how to combat "last minute resistance" to sex, saying "sometimes men can be a bit too shy or too scared to keep pushing it forward." He then tells the group that once in a girl's home they should claim to have left their card at home, that they don't have enough money for a taxi and that they just need somewhere to sleep, "say stuff that's going to make her not feel slutty about it".
He then says, "as soon as she puts her hand on your **** ****, that's the point of no return." In his eyes, there is no saying no after this point.
This community of 'Gamers' has been growing in recent years, and has now become a multimillion pound industry with coaches all over the globe offering their services for a fee. As of last month, well known pick-up artist, Adnan Ahmed was found guilty of threatening and abusive behaviour. Clips taken from Ahmed's YouTube channel are shown in the documentary, including one of him detailing how he had sex with a woman who was very resistant, saying "listen to her actions and her body not her words." The documentary reveals how Ahmed and other pick-up artists record their interactions with women and often upload audio or footage of them having sex to their channels.
As of today, YouTube has removed Adnan Ahmed's channel, Addy A-Game, and Eddie Hitchens and Richard Hood's channel, Street Attraction.
BBC Panorama's investigation, Secrets of Seduction Bootcamp, will air tonight on BBC One at 8:30pm and afterwards on iPlayer.
If you have been a victim of sexual harassment or need support please contact Rights for Women for free legal advice via their website.
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