Medical students speak out against misogyny and sexual harassment at King’s College London

Medical students at King’s College London have spoken out against their experiences of misogyny and sexual harassment at the university.

In an open letter written by British Medical Association at Guys, King’s and St Thomas, KCL Women in Surgery, and GKT Ladies Hockey Club addressed to Professor Nicki Cohen, Vice Chancellor Shitij Kapur and senior leaders of GKT, KCL and KCLSU, students voiced their concerns regarding the university’s response to violence against women.

The students criticised the lack of education on consent and misogyny, explaining: “We are stuck in an institution that refuses to call out and condemn this behaviour and have felt ignored, intimidated, and afraid to challenge a system that is seemingly ingrained into our medical school and university.

“We will not be gaslight or excused into thinking that this is normal, we will not be told that this is a part of medicine we should simply put up with, and we will not be silenced.”

They added that the letter should not be interpreted as an over exaggerated response, but rather “the result of years of hurt and betrayal by our faculties and leaders who have a duty to protect us”.

A survey conducted by the three societies revealed that 50.7 per cent of students reported misogyny to be a “very prevalent” issue at GKT.

When asked “do you think that GKT/KCL faculty handles the issue of misogyny, sexual harassment and assault adequately?”, 50.7 per cent of students responded “not at all” and 38.8 per cent responded with “not really”.

A further finding of the survey highlighted that 73.1 per cent of students reported having witnessed or experienced incidents related to misogyny, sexual harassment or assault at GKT or King’s College London, whether this be on campus, during placements or at GKT.

Most Read

Plumber breaks silence on what his experience with Bonnie Blue was *really* like

Woman who ‘died’ for eight minutes describes exactly what she saw, and it’s terrifying

The bleak aftermath of Bonnie Blue’s 1,000 guys in 12 hours challenge, in pictures

The letter also included testimonies describing instances of verbal threats, stalking and online intimidation encountered by students at the university.

Multiple testimonies recounted incidents of sexual harassment, including groping, that occurred at Guy’s Bar, a popular venue for Wednesday’s sport nights.

The societies argued: “For real change to happen, GKT, KCL, and KCLSU must commit themselves to creating an environment that is preventative rather than reactionary.”

To achieve this, they called on the university to enhance support by implementing measures such as mandatory sexual harassment response training for all staff who interact with students, having GKT sign the NHS Sexual Safety Charter, and ensuring accessible, confidential support services for victims.

They also urged the university to provide compulsory consent training before students can buy a sports membership and enter Guy’s Bar.

BMA at GKT, KCL Women in Surgery, and GKT Ladies Hockey Club told The King’s Tab: “As a group of medical students, we’ve witnessed a disturbing culture that allows misogyny and sexual violence to go unchecked at GKT, KCL, and KCLSU.

“Female medical students in particular are uniquely affected, as it’s often unclear whether GKT or KCL are responsible for supporting us, especially if we are assaulted whilst on placement.

“Our letter reveals glaring systemic failures at all levels, from the lack of teaching on gender- based violence, to students feeling too intimidated to report that they’ve been assaulted. This poor handling by staff has tainted many students’ university experiences, leaving them disheartened and traumatised.

“We decided to draw attention to this issue as we have yet to see any meaningful action being taken by our senior leaders, and we’re calling on them to do better.”

Professor Nicki Cohen, Dean of Medical Education at King’s College London said: “We are very concerned by the student testimonials of the distressing experiences and commentary within this letter and we have invited our medical students to meet with the Faculty to share their concerns and better understand how we can strengthen our efforts to address harassment and ensure a safe and respectful environment for our students and staff.

“No one should have to face any form of harassment or inappropriate behaviour while studying or training and we take all reports made to us through our reporting tool (Report + Support) seriously. In addition to Report + Support, through which students can directly access a range of support services, we have put in place compulsory Consent Matters training for students and we are continuing to raise awareness, educate and support our community to address unacceptable behaviours with the introduction of new initiatives, including enhanced student and staff training, already under development and we are in the process of recruiting for a Specialist Domestic and Sexual Violence Adviser.”

 KCLSU explained to The King’s Tab that it was investigating the concerns raised at Guy’s Bar 

Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals did not respond to a request for comment