Unsilenced: Can women ever have a ‘safe education’ at university?

For female students, the university campus can be a dangerous place, as more than two-thirds of them have experienced sexual violence.  

The years spent at university should be a time for students to look back on as some of the best of their lives. Whilst, for many, it marks the beginning of independence and opportunity, the widespread levels of sexual violence across university campuses can make it the most challenging and vulnerable time for others. 

Whilst increasing levels of sexual violence have been seen in recent years and remain a systemic issue across society generally, it seems such behaviours in universities are less understood and arguably less recognised despite detrimental impacts on female students. 

Research conducted by ‘Revolt Sexual Assault’ in recent years, involving 4,500 students from 153 different institutions has shown that almost two-thirds (62%) of students and recent graduates have experienced sexual violence during their time at university.  

A further 32% admitted to experiencing pressure to engage in sexual activities. Of these, only 10% reported it to the police and only 2% reported it to their institution, suggesting a lack of trust in the higher education’s ability to provide support.

These figures suggest that for female students, a campus university is a dangerous place to be. The lack of safety and support available when it comes to harassment and behaviour of that nature is causing many students to push for change so that universities start to bear some of the responsibility. 

As it stands, universities currently have no statutory duty of care over their students, meaning they have no legal responsibility to provide adequate help in harmful situations. In many cases, the reporting system remains unclear and lacks consistency between institutions, causing a lot of uncertainty on who or where to find support in cases of sexual violence. 

The Office for Students (OFS), who have previously encouraged universities to address sexual violence across campus for the issue that it is, is pushing for a new strategy to ensure certain procedures in cases of harassment are followed given that there is currently no obligation to do so. 

Oliwia Charoswska, founded Safe Education, a student-led campaign committed to tackling the culture of harassment and sexual violence at Durham University: “[When] you are going through secondary school and sixth form, you have a statutory duty of care. When you get to university, that falls. It doesn’t make sense […] it is more than just an oversight in the law, it is a massive safeguarding failure. 

“I think any female student at university will tell you that the rate at which sexual violence happens is shocking and unacceptable. To then find out my institution did not have a duty of care to protect me from that [just] did not make sense,” she explains. 

“Unlike other institutions like the police, and the police force has its flaws, there is strict procedure. There is strict auditing of those procedures to make sure that it happens.  

“They have a statutory duty to whoever they are seeing, and they have more thorough complaints procedures and appeals for example, whereas the situation we are currently seeing in universities is that [they] do not owe students a statutory duty of care.”

Oliwia told us that the culture at Durham University, as with many other Russell Group universities, follows a “collegiate system”, meaning that processes like reporting are hugely unclear and cause a lot of confusion for survivors. 

A former door supervisor working in security across university campuses, Erica* explains that such systems are designed this way: “for most universities, there is a three-month complaints process [for instances that have occurred on campus], which will push students from pillar to post [during this time]. 

“After these three months, you must have a good reason why you are making a complaint, and they will not necessarily tell you how to make a complaint or make a report.” 

For many students, the early years at university are already a highly vulnerable time, as many are unaware of the support systems available to them, unsure of where or who to ask for help and often struggling with academic and social pressures.

In these circumstances, coping with experiences of sexual violence can be even more challenging, and therefore students are discouraged from reporting. 

A damaging cycle of women taking inner blame for inappropriate behaviour posed on them can be even more common for students, as often they are left feeling that they did something wrong, and in many cases, as Erica explains “they are going to be told they have. 

“Universities tend to act like [what has happened to the individual] is OK, and I think that this is causing psychological issues for victims who go through this because it is not OK.” 

Safe Education, who are working to change regulations around sexual violence at Durham University specifically, explain that ‘a one advocate system’ needs to be implemented to rebuild trust as “survivors need someone to hold their hand [through the reporting process]”, and that often many are left feeling “ping-ponged around by the institution,” arguing that in most cases the response from university is passive, and needs to be more proactive if it is going to be effective. 

“We are entitled to higher education, but that is a barrier to accessing education safely if you are under constant fear of sexual violence,” Oliwia continues. 

It is not so much that universities are unaware of the violence that is taking place, campaigners feel that they are choosing not to take any responsibility. Whilst many appear to work closely with their students, by using words like ‘student voice’ and introducing ‘compulsory’ procedures, the general feeling for female students is that university is not an open or safe place to be. 

Instances of sexual violence and harassment taking place on campus are also regularly suppressed. Arguably, this is due to a combination of students not feeling safe enough to report abuse, or universities following the wrong protocol when they do.  

Erica, who served as a member of a security team for a university for a large part of the pandemic recalls multiple incidents where female students were attacked in their accommodation buildings, some by the same perpetrators, despite them already being on the institution’s radar. 

“Almost every girl in the building was being attacked in a confined space during the pandemic where they could not leave. They were being [badly] harassed, and [worst of all] it was being permitted. 

“I think it is so dangerous to be a university student, particularly if you are a woman.” 

The mostly submissive responses from universities have fuelled the accusation that perpetrators are being protected to some degree, “part of the reason this is being allowed is because [universities] do not want to lose funding, and they simply do not want to deal with telling [many men] ‘No’,” Erica said. 

“I think it is so dangerous to be a university student, particularly if you are a woman.” 

Erica

“When I was at university, three girls were raped every year on the rugby pitch. The university was aware of this and did not report it, despite being legally obliged to do so. 

“I do not think that universities care about safety if I am being honest […] I think [universities] become numb to it to a certain degree, they only care when it goes public because [then] you are going to have problems with employability.” 

Despite new regulations and protocols introduced by the Office for Students (OFS), who are investing £4.7 million into 119 new programmes tackling sexual violence, harassment and hate crime, an evaluation survey found that whilst some progress was made, “much improvement is needed.”  

At Durham University, for example, a consent course has been introduced for all students, but no formal action is being taken to ensure these are taking place.

As Oliwia emphasises, “often procedures exist in a very performative way because again no-one is holding universities accountable, so there are no consequences if they are shown to have not followed these procedures.” 

Despite their campaign being invited to the university’s ‘sexual violence management group’, Oliwia has expressed how disheartening their response was to Safe Education’s aim to “bridge the gap between students and senior management.” 

After taking more than a year to be invited to a meeting in the first place, and then being told to leave halfway through it, Oliwia explains the impact that the university’s attitude will have on survivors, and the reporting process going forward. 

“[Survivors] come to us because they see we are pushing for structural changes. They have been let down by the university, let down by the police in some cases, and then if it even leads to a prosecution which it very rarely does, they have also been let down by the justice system as well who is supposed to protect them.  

“So then, what do I tell the survivors? We tried, but the university dismissed you again?” 

“We are entitled to higher education, but that is a barrier to accessing education safely if you are under constant fear of sexual violence.”

Oliwia Charowska

If anything is going to be effective, programmes like these must be enforced. The roll-out of additional programmes like bystander training and consent education is also the first step in training men and women to recognise what constitutes inappropriate behaviour, and encourages people to call it out, breaking down this so-called ‘lad culture’, a driving factor for such behaviours to begin with. 

A study conducted in 2021 called ‘Understanding Sexual Aggression in UK Male University Students’ found a direct link between toxic masculinity and sexual violence in students of young ages.

It is common to experience something like a ‘lad culture’ in an environment such as a university campus, given that activities such as drinking alcohol, taking drugs or engaging in sexist and homophobic banter are more common. 

Samuel Hayes, PhD researcher in Forensic Psychology at the University of Kent and co-author of the study, explains: “Culture [like this] promotes harmful gender stereotypes and power imbalances between men and women, both of which are known risk factors for sexual violence. 

“Despite efforts by some universities to change the culture, ‘laddism’ still influences many students’ behaviour and experiences.” 

Comparing university campuses to “breeding grounds for misogyny and violence against women”, Hayes argues that whilst universities often fear to acknowledge levels of sexual violence in their institution, out of concern for a “damaged reputation”, it strengthens this, because it promotes a narrative that they do care, and are actively working for a safer education for students.  

The study was conducted in the hope that “by highlighting the high rates and different types of sexual violence on campuses, university leaders will feel more motivated (or compelled) to take action to address the issue,” he continues. 

Universities turning a blind eye to these behaviours is nothing new but rather has been happening for a long time. In 2020, a BBC investigation into non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) found that one-third of universities were using NDAs to silence students.

Durham University were found to have paid out £20,500 to a small number of students between 2018 and 2019 and £156,800 to eight students between 2017 and 2018, according to their own student newspaper, The Palatinate. 

Reports of students “feeling pressured to stay silent” when they have been a victim of sexual assault were uncovered as the government stated it was completely “unacceptable.” 

Mark Tallentire, Deputy Head of Communications and Engagement for Durham University strongly denies the claims mentioned, and in a statement to Artefact said: “Durham University does not use NDAs. In addition, the University is recognised as a leader in the sector in our work to address the society-wide challenge of sexual misconduct and violence.”

As with any societal issue of this scale, structural changes begin at a governmental level. The only way that institutions will be held accountable is if there is a law to ensure that this happens, to ensure that all students, particularly girls can have a safe and enriching experience in higher education. 

* Name has been change to protect the interviewee’s identity.

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Featured image courtesy of Angela Christofilou.