Sara Stridsberg | Karl Melander/EPA Nobel Prize academy members resign over sexual assault claims Prestigious Swedish Academy is ‘in crisis’ following allegations of sexual assault.

The Swedish Academy, which awards the Nobel Literature prize, is in "a state of crisis" amid sexual assault allegations that saw its sixth member step down on Saturday, Reuters reported.

"The Swedish Academy wishes to inform Sara Stridsberg on April 27 that the Academy has announced that she wishes to leave her mission as a member," the prestigious Stockholm-based institution said in a formal statement.

In November of last year, Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter published testimonies from 18 women who said they had been sexually assaulted by Jean-Claude Arnault, an influential cultural figure and the husband of Katarina Frostenson, an author and member of the Academy.

Earlier this month, the Academy's chief Sara Danius stepped down as well as four other members.

The Academy called on the legal firm Hammarskiöld & Co to investigate the extent of the Academy’s knowledge of the sexual assaults, it said in a statement earlier this week.

"The investigation revealed that unacceptable behaviour in the form of unwanted intimacy had indeed taken place, but the knowledge was not widely spread in the Academy," it said. "Neither was the Academy aware of anything that might be described as criminal sexual assault."

"The reputation of the Nobel Prize in Literature has suffered greatly from the publicity surrounding the Academy’s crisis," the Academy said, amid speculation the prize would be canceled this year and allegations that the names of some prize-winners had been leaked.

"We need to address the issue of legitimacy with utmost rigour," the statement read. "We want to emphasise that the Swedish Academy’s Nobel Committee — the working group that prepares the prize colloquium and submits recommendations before the decision is reached — is intact and has conducted its work this spring in the usual fashion."

The institution's regulations stipulate that the 18-members of the century-old academy can only be replaced after their death, but Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf announced last week he would change the rules to allow it to bring in new members.