This investigation deals with topics such as sexual assault, grooming, stalking, physical violence, and harassment
SUBSCRIBE TO THE AL JAZEERA INVESTIGATES PODCAST
Some of the world’s most elite universities are failing to protect their students when it comes to sexual misconduct by staff or other students.
Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit has spent two years examining how British universities, including Oxford, Cambridge, Glasgow, and Warwick deal with complaints of sexual harassment, sexist, drunken behaviour, and coercive control.
A series of podcasts and videos reveal why students say university complaints systems are stacked against them and how sexual misconduct by university staff and students has extensively affected the lives of women in academia.
Multiple complaints against the same abuser are regularly not heard together so individual complaints are dismissed as he-said-she said. Complaints take months, even years to be heard.
Al Jazeera sent 164 freedom of information requests to every university across the UK, requesting data on the total sexual misconduct complaints made against both students and staff members between 2017 and 2020, how many of these complaints were fully investigated and how many led to an outcome for the complainant.
The personal stories featured in the podcasts and videos, combined with the trove of documents obtained through the freedom of information requests, reveal a hard to navigate system that to many students is bewildering and traumatic.
Podcasts
The World Renowned Oxford Don
He’s a famous professor at Oxford, one of the world’s most prestigious universities. But across three decades and three institutions, women have described him as a sexual predator.
Episode 1
The Oxford Historian
He’s a leading academic at the University of Oxford. His expertise is in times gone by. Both students and other lecturers say his drunken and abusive behaviour is also a throw back and he’s unfit to teach.
Episode 2
Crossing professional boundaries
Six women describe the behaviour of a lecturer who taught at Glasgow University. They say he broke the acceptable boundaries of a professional teaching relationship.
Episode 3
Why complaints fail
In the second part of the story, the women describe what happened when they complained about the lecturer and the outcome, which one woman says could have ended her academic career
Episode 4
'He had deliberately obscured who he was'
The PhD student at Glasgow University was charismatic and charming and part of his appeal was his tragic past. But his relationships with several women became violent and controlling. As our investigation dug deeper into his history in his home country, we uncovered his lies and the real story of his murdered wife..
Episode 5
‘He lies to avoid accountability’
More incredible revelations about how a PhD student at Glasgow University lied about his dead wife and falsely accused innocent people of killing her. Question is, why has it taken almost four years for Glasgow University to investigate multiple complaints about him?
Episode 6
Videos
Harriet’s Oxford Story
When an Oxford PhD student, Harriet, complained that she’d been sexually assaulted by a fellow student, she expected Balliol College to investigate.
However, Harriet then discovered Balliol is one of several colleges at Oxford University to have a clause in their policy which means they don’t have to investigate her complaint. Harriet also claims the college put the emphasis on her behaviour, not the student she says assaulted her.
Millie's Warwick Story
When Millie started at Warwick University, she chose to live in a mixed flat. But a series of incidents with a flatmate led to Millie filing a complaint about him.
After a long investigation and a conduct committee meeting, Millie’s complaint was dismissed because it came down to one person’s word against another. Millie says her case shows some men still don’t understand what consent to sex really means.
Freedom of Information Requests
As part of Degrees of Abuse, Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit created a database with summaries and the original documents sent by 125 universities in response to Al Jazeera’s Freedom of Information Requests.
The documents expose the broader scale of just how few complaints result in any action being taken, especially for students.
In total, 125 out of 164 universities responded to Al Jazeera's request for information, revealing 1,403 student sexual misconduct complaints were reported over the period 2017-2020.
The documents show only 487 out of 1,403 of all student sexual misconduct complaints were investigated.
Out of those that were investigated, 309 led to no further action by the university.
That means that about 83 percent of university students' complaints of sexual misconduct did not result in disciplinary action of any kind for the respondent.
The documents also show only 35 out of 252 of sexual misconduct complaints against staff were investigated.
In several cases where the victim filed an official police report, universities said they intended to do a full investigation pending the result of the police inquiry. However, most complaints that were dropped by the police were then not investigated by the universities.
Although many universities claim they can investigate even if police cases are dropped, some universities such as Oxford University have policies that claim if a student doesn’t report to the police, they have no obligation to investigate.
Select a university
Total number of reported complaints
1,654
Aberdeen
Reported complaints: 14
Fourteen complaints of student sexual misconduct made between 2016-17 and 2019-20.
Aberdeen University did not fully respond to Al Jazeera’s request, citing privacy reasons due to the small number of complaints reported.
Sixteen complaints of student sexual misconduct between 2017 and 2020.
Eight of these were investigated; four cases led to no further action, one led to the accused being suspended, two led to final written warnings, and one was expelled.
In addition, two cases of staff sexual misconduct led to no further action.
Birmingham City University did not fully respond to Al Jazeera’s request, citing privacy reasons due to the small number of complaints reported between 2014 and 2016.
The combined number of complaints since 2010 is still less than five. This means that the university is exempt from sharing further details regarding any complaints.
Eight complaints of student sexual misconduct between 2017-18 and 2019-20.
None of these complaints led to an internal hearing. Three of the accused voluntarily withdrew, and three cases were continuing at the time of response.
There were no reported cases of staff sexual misconduct.
Twenty-eight complaints of student sexual misconduct between 2017-18 and 2018-19. Fewer than five complaints in 2019-20.
The University of Bristol did not fully respond to Al Jazeera’s request, citing privacy reasons because less than five complaints were made in 2019-20.
The response did not include information on how many complaints were investigated nor the outcomes of these investigations.
Eight formal complaints of student sexual misconduct between 2016-17 and 2019-20. Three of these were heard and led to a formal warning, restriction of movement on campus, and expulsion.
There were also 35 informal complaints of student sexual misconduct, 13 of which were investigated.
No reported complaints of staff sexual misconduct.
Buckingham University did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for information.
Bucks New
Reported complaints: 6
Six complaints of student sexual misconduct between 2017 and 2020.
One confirmed case led to a recommendation that the respondent improve their verbal and non-verbal communication. Two cases were on hold due to continuing police investigations.
There was also one complaint of staff sexual misconduct which was upheld and led to a formal warning.
Twenty-five formal complaints of student sexual misconduct between 2015-16 and 2018-19, 18 of which were investigated and eight upheld; none led to expulsion.
Four complaints of staff sexual misconduct, one of which was partially endorsed and led to a no-contact agreement.
There were 175 informal student sexual misconduct complaints and 33 informal staff sexual misconduct complaints made through the anonymous reporting system. These complaints were all sent to the central university.
Complaints made to any of the 31 colleges are not included in this number. The I-Unit contacted all Cambridge colleges, but few responded and used exemptions to avoid disclosing complaint numbers.
Four complaints of student sexual misconduct between 2017 and 2020. One case led to an internal hearing, and three cases were continuing at the time of response.
Additionally, a staff member resigned after one complaint of staff sexual misconduct.
Twenty-four complaints of student sexual misconduct between 2016-17 and 2019-20. Seven cases were upheld, leading to no expulsions.
Two complaints of staff sexual misconduct, neither of which were upheld. However, one staff member resigned before the complaint could be thoroughly investigated.
Sixteen complaints of student sexual misconduct between 2018-19 and 2019-20.
Derby University did not fully respond to Al Jazeera’s request, citing privacy reasons due to the small number of complaints reported about staff misconduct.
East Anglia University refused Al Jazeera’s Freedom of Information request because the information requested is so specific and the number of internal hearings so small there could be a risk of individuals being identified.
University of East London refused Al Jazeera’s Freedom of Information request because they could not access the information requested remotely during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Ten complaints of student sexual misconduct were reported, none of which were upheld or led to any outcome. Some complaints were ongoing at the time of response.
There were also nine complaints of staff sexual misconduct, which didn’t lead to any dismissals.
Twenty-four complaints of student sexual misconduct reported between 2017-18 and 2019-20, five of which led to disciplinary proceedings and were upheld.
Loughborough University did not fully respond to Al Jazeera’s request, citing privacy reasons due to the small number of complaints reported.
Twenty-six complaints of student sexual misconduct reported between 2016-17 and 2020-21.
All were investigated and one was upheld. None of the proceedings led to the raccused being expelled.
These complaints were all sent to the central university.
Complaints made to any of the 39 colleges are not included in this number. The I-Unit contacted all Oxford colleges, but few responded and used exemptions to avoid disclosing complaint numbers.
Pearson Business School did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for information.
Plymouth
Plymouth University refused Al Jazeera’s Freedom of Information request because “the granularity of the request” could lead to individuals involved in complaints being identified.
Solent University did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for information.
South Wales
University of South Wales did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for information.
Southampton
University of Southampton did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for information.
St Andrews
Reported complaints: 35
Thirty-one complaints of student sexual misconduct reported between 2016-17 and 2019-20. One outcome of these complaints was expulsion, but the number of outcomes was withheld.
Four complaints of staff sexual misconduct were signalled in this period, with three proceeding to disciplinary hearings.
St Andrews did not fully respond to Al Jazeera’s request.
Twenty-two complaints of student sexual misconduct between 2017 and 2020 led to no expulsions.
The University of West of England, Bristol did not fully respond to Al Jazeera’s request, citing privacy reasons due to the small number of complaints reported.
Eight complaints of student sexual misconduct between 2016-17 and 2019-20 led to three of the accused being expelled. Police investigated two complaints.
One complaint of staff sexual misconduct was not upheld.
Three complaints of student sexual misconduct made between 2016-17 and 2019-20 resulted in no expulsions for respondents. The police instead investigated three complaints.
In addition, one complaint of staff sexual misconduct during the same period was dismissed.
If you believe you are suffering from sexual abuse, misconduct, grooming, domestic violence or any other traumatic experience, the following organisations provide support to anyone wanting to talk about their experiences.
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="300px" width="800px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
