Scots university gets 48 sexual misconduct complaints in three years

A top university has received almost 50 ­complaints of sexual misconduct – including some involving serious violence – in three years, The Scottish Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Forty-eight women and men claimed to have been sexually abused by students and staff since 2021 at St Andrews University, once attended by Prince ­William and Kate Middleton.

Some of the ­perpetrators were given written warnings or were asked to carry out ‘reflective projects’ and attend consent workshops.

The revelations come after a 2020 social media campaign highlighting sex attacks on the Fife campus galvanised almost 250 ­former or current students to share their harrowing ordeals.

One whistleblower told the St Andrews ­Survivors Instagram page how she woke up after a night out to find a male ­student raping her.

Another said she had ­confided in a male friend about a previous sexual assault, but he took her home and assaulted her as well.

This paper also highlighted the plight of one young woman who was sexually assaulted and told of her concern that there was a rape ‘culture’ at the prestigious institution.

Last night St Andrews – where the Duke and Duchess of ­Cambridge met and fell in love – said it had ­created a ‘compassionate’ environment where students felt they could ‘come forward to disclose sexual misconduct, and trust that they will be listened to, supported, and looked after’.

It also said that it was up to ­individuals, not the university, to contact police with any allegations.

Fiona Drouet is founder and chief executive of Emilytest, a Scottish charity tackling ­gender-based violence in ­education. 

Her daughter Emily, an 18-year-old Aberdeen University student, took her own life in 2016 after being abused by a ­boyfriend.

She said: ‘The Office for National Statistics recently reported that students are the occupational group at most risk of sexual ­violence. 

'There is still much to be done, particularly around the ­normalisation of such abuse and the drivers behind it.’

However, she said St Andrews is the first university in Scotland to introduce a compulsory consent module for all ­students, which may be the reason for more ­coming forward.

Click here to visit the Scotland home page for the latest news and sport

St Andrews was asked how many reports of gender-based violence had been made to the university or student services team for each year since 2021 – a year after the whistleblower page was set up.

It admitted that 47 complaints had been made against students and one against a member of staff.

The university said that the ­complaints ‘cover a broad range of inappropriate, unwanted behaviour, from the most severe forms of sexual ­violence to unwanted touching, stalking, abusive or degrading remarks’.

When asked what it had done in terms of sanction, the institution said that investigations of sexual misconduct were a ­‘private ­matter... personal to both the ­complainant and the individual being reported’.

It instead listed a vague range of disposals for each case, which included perpetrators facing no action, a warning, a written warning, some advice, or precautionary action. 

The university also said that, as a result of some complaints, perpetrators have been asked to carry out a ‘reflective project’ over their actions, and attend ­consent or diversity workshops.

Other sanctions could include forcing students to take deferred entry, a leave of absence, suspension or termination of studies.

In 2020, a US-style fraternity on the Fife campus was at the centre of allegations of rape and sex assaults. 

Alpha Epsilon Pi, a global university and college society with groups in the US, ­Canada, Austria, Australia and Israel, had a chapter at St Andrews made up of around 55 members.

Claims of serious abuse shared on the St Andrews Survivors social media page prompted ­allegations ­unrelated to the ­fraternity, but connected to the university, to come to light.

One student who spoke to The Scottish Mail on Sunday at the time said: ‘Sexual abuse is accepted ­culturally at the university. 

'If you take people who have never been told “no” in their whole life, their entitlement just extends to women and their victims.’

Last night, St Andrews said it ‘proactively encourages and ­supports the reporting of all forms of sexual misconduct’. 

It added: ‘The university’s definition of sexual misconduct covers a broad range of inappropriate unwanted behaviour, from abusive or degrading remarks to the most severe – but thankfully still rare – forms of sexual violence, and across the vast range of behaviours between these two extremes.

‘We continue to work with our students to create a compassionate environment in which they feel safe to come forward to disclose sexual misconduct, and trust that they will be listened to, ­supported, and looked after.’