Students take action against the university’s response to sexual assault

A petition has been started asking UoB to take sexual assault seriously, following a peaceful protest on campus yesterday morning.

The protest was organised by former Guild President, Reece Patrick Roberts, and Mia Parks, demanding that the university recognise sexual assault victims.

They placed shoes outside the Harding Law Library to represent the silent majority of victims who are too scared to speak out. Within two hours the protest was allegedly taken down by the university.

This comes after a Tab report revealed that UoB did not investigate off-campus sexual assault cases.

the peaceful protest on campus

Following the protest, Reece and Mia set up a petition directed to Sir David Eastwood (the Vice Chancellor), asking the university "to apologise, to take responsibility and take action, and to promise not only an ‘investigation’ but a task group designed to assist any student or staff member who wishes to participate, in order to deal with this crisis.

"The university should offer consent classes, as a number of other UK universities already do, to empower us as students to call out inappropriate behaviour when we see it."

A link to the petition, which as of writing has over 200 signatures, can be found here.

If you have been affected by any issues surrounding sexual assault, you can contact The Survivors Trust here.