Students demand Cardiff University tackles sexual violence

Students campaigning to stop sexual violence say they will fight to ensure Cardiff University acts after a meeting with senior staff.

Between 2017-2021 the university had 691 sexual misconduct reports, Freedom of Information (FoI) responses show.

One student said they were laughed at by three male employees when speaking on sexual violence at a staff meeting.

The university said it took sexual assaults seriously and investigated them robustly.

It also said it was "concerned to hear students' experiences of sexual violence were dismissed by staff", and wanted to ensure "students have the confidence to come forward, knowing they will be supported and that their report of sexual violence will be fully investigated".

Becca Rumsey, 20, co-founded campaign group Time to Act and was invited to speak at the meeting on 15 November.

"I raised the point about sexual misconduct, and how they need to do better to support their students. Unfortunately, three male academic staff were laughing - which highlights just how important what we are doing is," she said.

She called it "really disappointing" as academic staff were supposed to "protect people".

The campaign group attracted thousands of supporters on social media, including the Women's Equality Party, campaigner Patsy Stevenson and barrister Dr Charlotte Proudman, who shared its posts.

Time to Act co-founder Bethia Tucker, 19, said sexual violence had become an accepted part of life.

She said students' union (SU) club nights were "notorious for being filled with harassment and misogynistic behaviour - students would term it as feral".

On 23 November, at the students' union general annual meeting, more than 500 students unanimously voted to tackle sexual misconduct at the university.

Graduate Emily Carr, 22, previously shared her experience of sexual violence and said she was "failed" by the university.

She told several staff members and asked for support, but was "completely dismissed by a senior member of staff".

FOI responses revealed the university has no data on sexual violence before 2017 or after 2021, as the collection system changed.

The number of expulsions was less than five each year, and the university said it could not provide figures as it could identify the individuals.

The group also received messages from former Cardiff students who experienced sexual violence more than a decade ago.

Ms Carr said: "It was heart-breaking to get messages from people who have put so much effort in and spoken out, and did everything that you're supposed to do - yet nothing has changed."

Ms Rumsey, who waived her right to anonymity, said: "I came to university after being sexually assaulted, harassed and stalked online - and there was no support and I didn't know where to start.

"I know if this is not done by victims it's not going to land."

To discuss the university's approach to dealing with sexual violence, seven students met Wendy Larner, the vice-chancellor, Clare Morgan, pro vice-chancellor and Julie Walking, interim director of student life, on 29 November.

The students asked for the 28-day reporting window to be extended for sexual misconduct.

Ms Rumsey said: "A lot of survivors and victims don't know it's happened to them in 28 days or don't feel comfortable reporting."

Ms Carr said it highlighted the inequality that "members of the university body have 60 days to declare their petrol costs".

They asked the university to provide key definitions of sexual harassment and misconduct, which it should "yearly review" and consult students as terms evolved, said Ms Rumsey.

She said there "should be laid out in the first week of university, there should be posters everywhere".

"Unfortunately, in the students' union there are more posters talking about four VKs for a tenner rather than basic consent," she said.

The group asked the university to provide consent and bystander training to all staff, as well as more transparency and a review of the investigation process.

"We've had cases where students have received an apology letter from their rapist," Ms Carr said. "This is part of the proceedings sometimes, but because there's so many different avenues, we actually don't know what the proceeding is."

She added: "We have been told in the past that this would be incredibly naive to want and campaign for - to that we ask why? We don't believe that sexual violence is part of the human condition."

The group wants an apology from the university, but said it had not yet received one.

"For people who went through these horrific events - who were either dismissed, ignored, swept under the rug, or had to drop out - [an apology] says 'we're sorry for failing you'," Ms Carr said.

"Because that's what they did, they failed."

A Cardiff University spokesperson said: "Encountering any form of sexual assault has a devastating effect on a student's life and their experience of higher education.

"These types of incidents are not confined to Cardiff - these are issues that impact all universities and society as a whole. Collectively, we must do more to prevent and then ensure appropriate support is available for victims."

The university said senior academics met the students "in a spirit of openness and a determination to listen and act" and another meeting would be held in March.

It said it was reviewing its support services, including data around sexual violence and the effectiveness of consent training for students.

"We're concerned to hear students' experiences of sexual violence were dismissed by staff," the university added.

It said its services had "successfully supported students who are the victims of sexual violence" and "the effectiveness of that service is not measured in expulsions or sanctions and it would be wrong to conflate the two".

The university said it took all sexual assault allegations seriously and investigated reports "robustly".

It also said it recognised it could do more "to ensure transparency and reassure our student community of our zero-tolerance approach to violence against women".

"We want to make sure our students have the confidence to come forward, knowing they will be supported and that their report of sexual violence will be fully investigated."

A students' union spokesperson said that "supporting students to have fun in a safe manner is of paramount importance".

The union said complaints were "minimal" but they took them all "incredibly seriously" and encouraged any student to report incidents.

It agreed more needed to be done to "educate and support students surrounding sexual violence", and it was looking at how to support victims proactively.

If you're affected by the issues in this report, you can find support from BBC Action Line.