Following the recent murder of Sabita Thanwania in student accommodation at London’s City University, Rising East spoke to students from The University of East London (UEL) to find out how safe they felt.
A 2018 consultation conducted by Revolt Sexual Assault and The Student Room with almost 5000 students and recent graduates from 153 different institutions across the UK found that 70% of the women spoken to had experienced sexual violence on campus; though only about 1 in 10 had reported this to the university or the police – due to either feeling ashamed or worried that no one would help. Twenty-eight per cent said that the most common place on campus to get assaulted was in their own halls of residents.
Moya Quinn (19), told us that when some young men who also lived on campus kicked her door at the middle of the night and began harassing her, she did call security but was told to “stop calling…” When the men left off for a while she went to a friend’s flat, but the men found her and continued the harassment through her friend’s door. Yet security, she alleged, wouldn’t do anything. Moya also said that when walking home at night with headphones in, a male security guard would start talking to her in a way that made her feel uncomfortable.
Moya did not report any of the above to her university, so none of what she says can be checked. Neither could her university take any action.
But had she reported the incident, Nicole Redman, Assistant Chief Operating Officer & Director of Student Services at UEL, said: “Every complaint made by a student is taken very seriously and thoroughly investigated. We strongly encourage any student who feels harassed or uncomfortable to immediately seek support.”
Molly Davis (21) told us that she generally feels safe in UEL halls because of the presence of gates and security. But she also alleges that individual security guards can be “weird sometimes.”
Ms. Tomlin, Director of Estate Operations, said the UEL security team abides by a that requires them to behave respectfully to all community members. This code can be viewed on UEL’s intranet. If students feel they haven’t been treated respectfully, they are encouraged to contact Report and Support. She also said that there is at least one female security officer on every shift and that students can ask to speak with them if that is their preference. The process of contacting security can also be anonymous if preferred, through the University’s Report and Support tool.
Ms. Redman said that UEL students in the residence halls can seek support and report problems to their local residential scholar (there is one scholar in each hall) or via the residential life phone number which is staffed 24 hours a day/seven days a week
But the 2018 consultation found that only 6% of those who had suffered sexual violence had reported this to their university; and when asked why not, over half said they thought it wasn’t that serious. Around 80% of the respondents also thought that victims of sexual violence are often blamed, perhaps for dressing in a certain way – when they might have just been in leggings and a t-shirt – or for drinking alcohol.
So, to make what happened to Sabita Thanwania less likely to happen again, universities should not only do all they can to keep their campuses safe; they also need to raise awareness about the incidence of, and importance of, sexual violence on campus. That will let victims know that they are not alone, and LSO give them the courage to report what has happened to them.