Sexual Misconduct by Staff Widespread at UK Universities: Report

In a survey of more than 1,000 current and former students, 41 percent indicate experiences with faculty and other employees ranging from sexualized comments to rape.

Written byDiana Kwon

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Forty-one percent of students enrolled in UK universities have faced unwanted sexual advances, ranging from sexualized comments to rape, from staff members, The Guardian reports today (April 3).

The findings come from a soon-to-be published survey by two organizations in the U.K., the National Union of Students (NUS) and the 1752 Group, a lobbying organization dedicated to ending misconduct. Researchers asked 1,839 current and former students to indicate whether they had experienced sexual misconduct from a member of their university’s workforce.

Of the 1,535 individuals who responded to the survey, 12 percent said they had been touched in an uncomfortable manner. Sixty-five respondents reported experiencing non-consensual sexual contact and 15 people stated that they had been sexually assaulted or raped. Less than 10 percent of ...

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Meet the Author

Diana Kwon
Diana is a freelance science journalist who covers the life sciences, health, and academic life. She’s a regular contributor to The Scientist and her work has appeared in several other publications, including Scientific American, Knowable, and Quanta. Diana was a former intern at The Scientist and she holds a master’s degree in neuroscience from McGill University. She’s currently based in Berlin, Germany.
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