Impact Investigations Team
STORY TWO
In light of recent spiking incidences, Impact in collaboration with NSTV and URN have conducted a university-wide survey* shedding light on female safety concerns at the University of Nottingham.
After Nottingham city centre, student halls found to be the second most prevalent location for sexual assault and harassment.
Impact’s recent survey has also shown that, whilst the most incidences of sexual assault and harassment have taken place off-campus, the location with the second highest rate of these disturbing experiences is student halls. A total of 167 female students reported knowing of someone who had suffered sexual assault or harassment within University of Nottingham Halls and a further 64 women commented that they themselves were personally targeted.
One female respondent expressed their concerns over the lack of support from halls’ security and staff: “When living in halls, someone reported that they’d been spiked to the health and safety officers, but it was never taken any further by those staff members, and no extra help was given after just acknowledging the situation.” The experiences of this individual are not an isolated experience, however. Another female respondent told Impact: “The abuser of my friend (and several other girls) was left to roam free. No repercussions despite being reported to university staff. This occurred in catered halls.” With 236 of the female survey respondents calling for increased security on campus, clearly more needs to be done to ensure the safety of UoN’s women, not only on nights out in the city, but in the very halls they return home to afterward.
**When this article uses the term women, men, male or female, it references all individuals self-identifying with these genders.
**The survey received a total of 826 responses, 615 of whom identified as female and 211 as male.
Written by Niamh Robinson
Researched by Impact Investigations team:
Niamh Robinson, Madeleine Collier, Emily Vivian, Lauren Mcgaun, Alice Nott, Gareth Holmes, Hannah Walton-Hughes, Jasmin Lemarie, India Rose Campbell, Natasha Saxton, Lana Christon, Tessa Williams, Faith Millington, Sarina Rivlin-Sanders, Rebecca Starkie, Olivia Conroy, Lauren Bryant, Niamh Budd
Featured image courtesy of Rian Patel. Permission to use granted to Impact.
Further resources and support:
University of Nottingham Sexual Violence Liaison Officer (SVLO) Service:
Report and Support: https://reportandsupport.nottingham.ac.uk/
Let’s Be Clear on Consent: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/currentstudents/healthyu/lets-be-clear-on-consent.aspx
