King’s don’t know how to handle sexual violence, say new findings

King’s don’t record allegations of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment, according to The Guardian.

The study claims seven of the 24 Russell Group unis admit to not systematically recording allegations while a further seven record only a limited number.

These new findings contradict the Russell Group’s promise of “robust policies and procedures in place to deal with these matters” in line with “ensuring student safety and wellbeing”.

With no legal obligation to record sexual violence, there are widespread inadequacies across UK unis in dealing directly with cases of a sexual nature. This failure to properly record and tackle sexual violence is fuelling heightened concerns that unis are sweeping the issue of sexual violence under the carpet. The new allegations follow recent events which have seen students criticise their unis for failing to properly investigate allegations of rape on campus.

In the wake of these new claims, which states that more than 50 per cent of top unis are failing to properly respond to sexual violence reported by students, King’s has been criticised for failing to properly address the need for a clear and accessible system of reporting and documenting cases of sexual violence. It was one of five Russell Group unis to admit lacking specific guidelines and strategies that would help students in the event of reporting sexual violence. This means King’s students seeking support could find themselves without help from the uni and unsure on how to report incidents of sexual violence.

Students describe King’s approach to dealing with sexual violence as “disconcerting”.

The lack of a universal system of reporting and recording sexual violence across UK unis is proving to be a source of concern for King’s students. The revelations have shed light on the fact that many students presume a system is in place should they become a victim of sexual violence and are shocked to find this may not be the case.

Emily Thompson, final year Music student, told The Tab, “You wouldn’t ever wonder about how the uni would deal with such cases unless you were going through it yourself and many students trust that there is a system in place. It’s really disconcerting knowing the support provided is limited and it makes you wonder what other issues King’s is failing to provide proper support for.”

These latest allegations highlight yet again the flawed approach to tacking sexual violence amongst students, which has been described as “hit and miss” by Dianne Whitfield, chief policy officer at Coventry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre. The report also puts pressure on King’s as a top uni to improve its duty of care by offering better and more accessible support for victims of sexual violence, and to provide an example for other unis to emulate.

In response to this, Jamie Sweeney, Vice President for Welfare and Community at KCLSU, who is pledging to stamp out sexual harassment on campus, brings light to new initiatives to support victims of sexual violence at King’s: “KCLSU is currently working with the university to launch ‘It Stops Here’ in September, a big campaign which will hopefully start addressing the problem of sexual harassment. However, it is worrying to hear that King’s may be failing to record data properly, and this is something I will investigate.”

The university itself has also responded by insisting, “We take the health and wellbeing of our students very seriously and guidance on how to report an alleged incident of sexual harassment or assault is available to all students on the Equality and Diversity webpages.  This guidance outlines the processes and protections in place should an allegation be made and how to escalate this in serious cases. Formal allegations are recorded by our Conduct & Appeals Department, who follow up in line with our disciplinary policy. In the case of an alleged sexual assault we would encourage the student to report this to the Police and would support them throughout the process.

“As part of our commitment to making King’s a safe and inclusive community for all, we’re launching a campaign in collaboration with KCLSU that says ‘no’ to sexual harassment of any kind. In September 2016, ‘It Stops Here’ will be asking staff and students to take a pledge to raise awareness and challenge sexual harassment and sexism wherever they see it.”

@cleopollard