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Majority of students accused of sexual assault face no consequences

Kathryn Ellison

Investgatons Editor

Content Warning: This article contains repeated mentions of sexual violence, assault and misconduct.

The vast majority of students accused of sexual violence at Durham University faced no disciplinary consequences between October 2014 and July 2019, data from the Sexual Misconduct and Violence Annual Trend Monitoring Paper (2019) has revealed.

The paper shows that a total of 262 disclosures of sexual violence were reported during the five year period, however only a maximum of 16 students and staff have been dismissed or expelled from the University as a result of an investigation.

The paper also indicates that the majority of victims chose not to make formal disclosures against alleged perpetrators, with formal disclosures being required by the University to start the investigation process.

In the academic year 2018/19, 68 incidents of sexual violence were informally disclosed, compared to 17 formal disclosures of sexual misconduct of all categories. This includes non-violent sexual harassment, stalking and domestic abuse. Of the 17 formal disclosures, fewer than five resulted in expulsion or dismissal from the University.

The paper also suggests that male students are far more likely to commit acts of sexual violence than female students, with data from the five year period of 2014/15 to 2018/19 indicating that men were 40 times more likely to breach the sexual misconduct policy than women.

urham University is a safe place to live

The paper s findings come after a pledge that Durham would become a “University community where survivors are supported while we strive to eliminate sexual violence” in 2015/16. Despite this, investigations of sexual misconduct during the 2018/19 academic year took an average of days, with five out of 17 formal reports being withdrawn by the reporting party. In a Durham Students’ Union report on the impact of the Pincident campaign (a campaign allowing users to informally report abuse via Durham Students’ Union’s website), the biggest reason for victims choosing not to formally report sexual misconduct was feeling like “nothing would be done if they made a complaint”. This reason was a factor for 56% of students.

The data also indicates that breaches of the sexual misconduct policy occur most frequently between undergraduate students. Only 39 out of 257 alleged perpetrators of sexual misconduct over the five year period were staff or those not affiliated with the niversity.

More serious breaches of the policy were more likely to be reported to the University. 99 incidents of assault by penetration and 89 incidents of sexual assault were formally reported over the five year period, indicating a possible underreporting of less severe breaches of the university’s sexual misconduct policy.

In response to Palatinate’s investigation into the paper, Jeremy Cook, Pro-ViceChancellor (Colleges and Student Experience) at Durham University, said: “Durham University is a safe place to live, work and study, and we are working tirelessly, including with our students and student leaders, to make it even more so.

“There is no place here for individuals who are found to have committed acts of sexual misconduct or violence.

“When students disclose or report instances of sexual misconduct or violence to us, we are committed to providing comprehensive support, investigating promptly and taking decisive action.

“Our approach has seen an increase in cases reported to us, but we see this as our community growing in confidence that we will act appropriately in response to such reports.”

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Clubs to be credited for anti-spiking efforts in new University campaign

Poppy Askham

News Editor

A new accreditation scheme that will recognise local bars and clubs that instate antispiking measures has been unveiled.

The #DurhamUnite campaign will see college common rooms in association with the University and Students’ Union (SU), collaborate to encourage venues to take action to combat the recent surge in spiking incidents in the city. Those that do so will be able to display a special charter mark demonstrating their support for the campaign.

Suggested measures include offering cup covers, increasing entrance checks, and providing more staff training.

A study recently found that more than 160 reports of suspected spikings were made to JCRs and college welfare teams in Freshers’ Week, the week before and the weekend after it. Local police have also confirmed that they have received multiple reports of spiking via injection in the city in recent weeks.

The #DurhamUnite initiative follows last week’s studentorganised boycott of nightclubs on 26th October. More than 90 sports clubs and societies backed the ‘Durham Night In’ and at least three venues closed their doors on the night.

Hala Heenan, the boycott’s principal organiser and current St Chads’ JCR President, welcomed the new campaign. She told Palatinate: “I think it’s a great initiative that’s taking that inter agency approach to the issue that the Durham Night In was advocating for.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the action that comes out of the campaign.”

The initiative also comes in the wake of student uproar over a tweet from the University’s student welfare division that told students “don’t get spiked”.

The University stated that the tweet was “wrong and should not have been issued” in an apology released two weeks later.

The statement also said that the University takes concerns about drink spiking “very seriously” and that they will take this opportunity to “learn and improve” its messages on the topic.

The new campaign was revealed by SU welfare and liberation officer, onah raham.

He also noted that the SU is also currently updating its student safety advice and has been planning active bystander training events. raham called on students to involve themselves with the campaign, explaining “ #DurhamUnite is led by student voices throughout the colleges so please speak to your Presidents, your Student Support teams, and your SU so we can respond to what is happening in Durham accordingly”.

elow lute, Europe s worst nightclub and a local favourite, empty during the ig Night In (Thomas Tomlinson)