UCU: sexual harassment rife as UK universities ‘protect predators’

The reluctance of UK universities to confront leading researchers has contributed to “endemic” levels of sexual violence in higher education, a major study has claimed.

Drawing on survey responses from almost 4,000 university staff, a long-awaited report by the University and College Union (UCU) published on 22 December says encounters with sexual violence are “commonplace” within universities and colleges. One in 10 of respondents said that they had directly experienced sexual harassment or abuse within the past five years, yet half of them did not report it to their employers.

Almost a quarter of respondents (24 per cent) said they had witnessed sexual violence on campus – including, under the definition used, unwanted sexual advances, derogatory or sexually suggestive comments and the sharing of sexualised materials, as well as sexual assault and rape. The most serious forms of sexual assault are “part of a continuum of sexual violence”, explains the report, as “seemingly small and innocuous acts can set the scene for physical assaults”.

A lack of “organisational readiness” to sanction perpetrators is identified by the report, and this often had its roots in an unwillingness to investigate or discipline “star professors” who attract large amounts of research funding, or for whom disciplinary procedures would lead to reputational damage for the university, said the UCU’s general secretary, Jo Grady.

“Promising young women who have the potential for amazing research careers find these careers ruined by predatory male academics who are protected,” said Dr Grady, who added that these perpetrators “stay in roles and have the potential to terrorise a whole new load of people over the years”.

“The star academic is more valued by the institution than doing the right thing,” continued Dr Grady, who claimed that many institutions wanted to “protect star academics…as they give them a cachet that universities want to hang on to”.

An “obsession with [reputational] damage…is impacting on how universities deal with this,” said Dr Grady, who condemned a “culture of protecting predators”.

The “big power differential” between permanent professors and staff on insecure contracts created the conditions for sexual harassment and abuse, she argued, noting that the report finds that staff on non-permanent contracts are 1.3 times more likely to experience sexual violence.

“Education does not have more predators [than other industries], but the employment conditions that we see are exacerbating this problem,” said Dr Grady, who said precarious academics see that the “very structure of the university conveys to them that they are not as important as other staff”.

A Universities UK spokeswoman said the UCU report and its findings "make for difficult but important reading" and that "every case of sexual violence on campus is one too many and completely unacceptable."

"University senior management take these matters extremely seriously and universities are committed to becoming safer places to live, work and study so that no student or member of staff is subject to any form of sexual violence or misconduct," she added.

This month UUK published a toolkit for senior leaders of best practice and practical steps to tackle sexual misconduct and harassment, created in partnership with the charity Against Violence and Abuse and the National Union of Students.

"While progress has been made, including in encouraging survivors to come forward and report, we know – and this report further emphasises – that there is much more to do to end all forms of harassment in higher education. UUK will continue to intensify its work with the sector, including the UCU, to examine what further action we can all collectively take," said UUK.

The report sets out a number of recommendations, such as abandoning the use of non-disclosure agreements for survivors of sexual violence and communicating the outcomes of complaints to survivors, but it also acknowledges that the UCU’s own practices have fallen short and calls on the union to change the way it addresses the issue of sexual violence.

Respondents reported access to support being blocked by local UCU branches or inconsistent levels of support being made available when a complaint was made. While some of those surveyed valued the support of their UCU rep, others reported that despite their willingness to help, UCU reps were not properly trained or lacked the capacity to provide appropriate support.

The union has already begun a review into its own process for members reporting sexual violence. The review, which is due to conclude in January, will be followed by recommendations on how the union can improve its procedures.

Lesley McMillan, who chaired the study’s 13-strong task force, said that the report “demonstrates the widespread and enduring nature of sexual violence in the workplace”.

“The sector is waking up to the problem – it is now vital that employers and unions work together to create a university and college sector that is inclusive and safe, prevents these harms from occurring, and offers support and redress when they do,” said Professor McMillan.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com