Edited by Toria Christie
A 19-year-old female student, whose name was lifted due to legal consideration, was told by her university to watch pre-recorded trauma-dealing videos and that going to the police wouldn’t make any changes after being sexually assaulted.
The student at the University of Sheffield is now 20 and was 19 when the assault happened in January 2023. She was inappropriately touched by a 26-year-old ‘friend’ of hers.
She met the 26-year-old through a dance class. On the day, it was a night out with the group from the class and the man offered to walk her home and invited her over to play video games. Once they got back to his apartment, he offered a back massage because he told her that he did massages to all of his friends. She trusted him because they were friends but the 26-year-old started touching her inappropriately from her bottom and tried to undress her skort.
She said: “I was scared and I just thought if I am asleep, he wouldn’t do anything because I am unconscious, that would be sexual assault, I thought that would make him stop, but it didn’t.
“He knew I was unconscious. I was awake for the whole time and shaking in fear, I could feel his breath on my neck, it was so terrifying.”
The female student contacted the University for help and support after three weeks.
During her session, she said the University’s Student Welfare Team told her that: “You can report it to the police if it makes you feel better but realistically, there is almost no chance that anything would happen to him.”
The 20-year-old said: “I understand that they wanted me to set my expectations low but the consistency of them emphasising it won’t make any changes, suggesting me not to report it and think realistically made me feel like nothing could be done for me to be safe and I would never get myself back.
“I was hopeless, thinking I had to keep living in fear of seeing him, I was so frustrated and angry that I resorted to self-harm.”
The Welfare team at the University Of Sheffield said to try the following methods:
- Download the SafeZone App
- Report to the police (Which they deterred her from doing)
- Talk to the Faculty Wellbeing Advisor (Only three advisors for the entire social science faculty with thousands of students)
- Contact the Student Mental Health, Counselling and Therapies Service (It requires her to take five steps before an appointment)
- Watch an online pre-recorded learning retreat on YouTube called How do we heal from Trauma
- Talk to the GP via University Health Service
The female student said: “My problem with them is that you have someone who is severely depressed because of sexual assault, and telling her to sign up a form and be on a waiting list is ridiculous.
After waiting for almost a month, the 20-year-old finally talked to her Faculty Wellbeing advisor, who was really helpful, according to her.
She said: “There should be more staff to take care of students’ wellbeing, and there should be more support, you can’t just leave me there to hang to dry.”
The University did not comment directly on this case but gave us a general response saying: “The safety of our students is very important to us and we are committed to make our University a safe place to study, work and live. We take a victim-led approach to sexual assault cases and ensure that all students have access to appropriate support, which includes listening to what action the victim wants us to take.
“Receiving feedback from our students is important in helping us ensure our services are meeting their needs and expectations and we encourage our students to let us know if they have any concerns to help us improve.”
The 20-year-old said: “I am over it now, but I fear for other people, who tried to get support and never got any, all these girls who have to deal with this by themselves.”
If you need mental support, contact SAMARITANS any time, call 116 123.