The pandemic of sexual abuse in universities: ‘They’re more concerned with protecting their reputations than female students’ (The Telegraph)
Two lawyers helping young women fight harassment and abuse cases in UK and US universities explain what’s still going wrong.
Extract:
When you start university or college, you’re told it’ll be “the best years of your life”. It’s when you gain crucial skills, form life-long friendships and create networks that will sustain your career in decades to come.
But what happens to those dreams if you end up cowering in your own room, too afraid to leave because you might bump into your rapist on campus? How can you excel at your studies if you’re constantly looking over your shoulder, and fighting a Kafkaesque bureaucracy with infinitely more resources? How can you thrive and heal if you’re threatened with legal action for telling your story, even anonymously?
You’d think that the institution tasked with educating you and keeping you safe, to which you pay thousands of pounds for the privilege, would want to help you.
Often, you’d be mistaken.