A Guardian call-out to readers to share experiences of sexual harassment in universities has uncovered allegations of serious sexual misconduct and predatory behaviour among higher education staff. Equally striking, however, was the reluctance among victims to complain.

They feared they would not be believed; they were concerned about the damage it might do to their academic careers, and they were worried about the personal cost to their health and wellbeing of entering into a lengthy complaints procedure. Many of those who did complain were unhappy with the outcome. Here are some of their stories.

‘I am leaving academia because of what happened’ – PhD student

Marie (not her real name) felt a growing sense of unease after her supervisor began giving her gifts and once asked to take a photograph of her with his presents, which he then sent her. There were kisses and hugs after supervisions and on one occasion he sat unbearably close to her.



“I felt really uncomfortable. I thought I could be overreacting.” She sought advice from someone who had left the department. “She told me that it had happened before, exactly the same thing.”

Marie raised it with her department who spoke to her PhD supervisor, but she chose not to report it officially. “The complaints system isn’t helpful as they suggest that you report it all immediately but that’s very hard to do when you’re upset.

“I was lucky, I didn’t have to prove it as it had happened before. It would be so much harder if it was one against one. It’s very hard to make complaints. Your supervisor is your reference and if you make any complaint then you risk your career being over. You can see why so many people leave the profession.

“This is everywhere in academia. I don’t want to stay in it. It’s huge. You’d hear these stories … and you’d think maybe those things happen in those weird private universities in the States. I didn’t think it would happen here.

“I am leaving academia because of what happened. I’m going to do my PhD and then that’s it.”

‘They close ranks to protect their own’ – anonymous postgraduate student

“From the outset he showed great interest in my work and was personally very supportive. Then it became clear he wanted to be more than friends. He touched me and groped me on several occasions.

“On one occasion he even pulled down my underwear in his office. I froze. I didn’t know what to do. I was scared. I didn’t scream out or run away; I was simply petrified.

“When it became clear to him that I wasn’t prepared to put up with his behaviour, his attitude towards me completely changed. He became distant, lost interest in helping me with my work and called me a whore.”

A year later she plucked up the courage to report him to the police, but there was insufficient evidence for a conviction. She complained to the university. “But the university didn’t want to help me, I’m afraid.

“On paper, my university has proactive, supportive and committed policies and procedures to address sexual violence, sexual harassment and sexual discrimination. I now know that if it is the word of a student against a senior member of staff, that commitment quickly evaporates and they close ranks to protect their own.”



‘We felt completely inferior and massively degraded as a group of women’ – non-academic worker

Sarah (not her real name), a non-academic member of staff, claims she was bullied out of her position after complaining about the treatment she and other female colleagues were being subjected to by senior male academics in the department.

“There was a culture of degrading women, sexist behaviour and sexualised behaviour. It was a whole load of stuff happening. We felt completely inferior and massively degraded as a group of women.”



Even though Sarah was a senior member of the team, she was asked to make the tea, and during one recruitment round she was urged not to give the job to anyone who might get pregnant. When she tried to address inappropriate behaviour by male academics, she was admonished for raising concerns and the sexist behaviour went unaddressed.



After she made a series of complaints, the university suggested she look for another job within the institution. “I spoke up about things that were not right and I was removed as a consequence in a really brutal fashion.



“The thing that’s most disturbing to me is the difference between the image and the reality. The university promoted this public image as somewhere women are treated as equals and encouraged to speak up. The reality was quite different.”



‘It was all about him’ – undergraduate



Paula (not her real name) was a third-year undergraduate when she was propositioned by the supervisor for her final-year dissertation. “He was obviously depressed and mostly he talked about how his relative had died. He gave me nothing, no critical analysis; it was all about him.

“It ended with him saying: ‘Do you want to go to the pub?’ It’s fairly normal for staff/student socialising in large groups but it’s not normal to have one-on-one interaction.

“He took my arm. He said: ‘I’ve thought about it a lot. We could be together.’ He asked if I had a long-term partner. He said: ‘I want you, and I want you to think about this too.’ I had to sacrifice my entitlement to further teaching for my dissertation to avoid seeing him again.

“If there had been more awareness, posters, talks in freshers’ week, to explain if any boundaries had been crossed – if there had been a bit more of that then it would have been at the forefront of my mind and I might have had the confidence to report it. It’s not a conventional environment.”

‘Students at 18 are adults but most come straight from home and are essentially children’ – master’s student

Louise (not her real name), a master’s student, was preyed upon by a lecturer she had got to know while working for a student support team he was leading. “We all spent time together, often in his flat. Most other staff were older and distant and I think because of this he still mixed with students. Everyone else was a postgrad. I was the only master’s student.”

One night they went out as part of a group and Louise drank heavily. “I was very drunk, too drunk to do anything other than go to bed and sleep it off. I vaguely remember him kissing me ... vaguely remember him lying down on the bed. He definitely hadn’t had as much to drink as I had. I remember he woke me up to say: ‘I’m going to put on a condom because we’re going to have sex now.’ I didn’t have a lot of involvement … I didn’t have a lot to say.

“It took me a while to realise that he shouldn’t have done that. I thought – that’s OK, I put myself in that situation, it was my responsibility. It took me a while to realise what he did was wrong.

“Information for staff about appropriate and inappropriate relationships is very vague. Students at 18 are adults but most come straight from home and are essentially children. The university needs to tell them [what’s appropriate] and help them.”

‘To this day I feel disgust’ – anonymous PhD student

“When I did my PhD I quickly learned that my male supervisor had a longstanding reputation as a womaniser. On an early occasion he asked me to meet him for a coffee outside the campus. During that meeting I felt like he wanted to appear to be out with an attractive, young female student in public. Also the conversation was very personal. I made a point not to meet him that way again.

“In the last year of my PhD he started to carry out an affair with another student fairly obviously, and at the same time completely stopped reading my work and constantly postponed supervision.

“It was a disaster and delayed my graduation. A member of staff, also male, took pity on my situation and basically discreetly took up the slack so I could graduate. I never got any support in my career from my supervisor and I am painfully aware it was because I refused to engage him on this level.

“In the end he was forced out of the university. He found immediate work at a rival university through his considerable network. To this day I feel disgust.”



‘If I had complained I wouldn’t have been believed’ – lecturer

Melissa (not her real name), now head of department at a UK university, says she was harassed when she was a senior lecturer by a more senior academic who was her line manager.

“When it starts it’s friendly and then when it’s getting into harassment – you can’t define it. It’s weird. I liked him and also I didn’t want to offend my boss, and I wanted a career.

“It’s almost like post-traumatic stress at the time; you can’t see it happening. You’re afraid and petrified and feel you can’t get out of it. I wish I had been stronger ... if I had complained I wouldn’t have been believed – you almost have to put up with it. It’s sad.

“He was really nice and attentive but it started to get more personal, a lot more clingy. He would come into my office – at first it was like a nice pat on the back and an easy touch and I would just think, my boss is paying attention to me and you feel really good.

“Slowly it got more and more intrusive. He would come to the office every single day, close the door and touch me in various areas, even when I was on the phone. One day it was so bad in his office. He came around his desk and grabbed my crotch. I was frozen. What could I do? He would back me up at times against the wall, closer and closer, his chest close to my chest. I couldn’t get away.”

Eventually she went to his boss and said they were having a disagreement over the way the course was being run and asked for a transfer to another position. A solution was found, but she never felt she could complain about the harassment and assaults.

“You would be a pariah. You’re not going to be believed and if you try to complain then you will have no career. I think this is common in academia – who are they going to believe, a lower female or a higher male?”

‘One of the things I’ve had to push for is the use of the term sexual harassment – there’s a disinclination to term it as such’ – junior academic

Kerry (not her real name) complained to her head of department after she was harassed by a colleague. Although she was satisfied with the outcome of the complaint, she says it wasn’t an easy process.

“It’s individuals putting themselves on the line, and it potentially affects their career and references, which are so important in academia.

“One of the things I’ve had to push for is the use of the term ‘sexual harassment’ – there’s a disinclination to term it as such and call it ‘inappropriate behaviour’ instead. It can feel like it’s minimising the seriousness of what’s happened.”

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