New figures have revealed that almost two-thirds of university students have experienced sexual violence.

Revolt Sexual Assault, in cooperation with The Student Room, discovered that 62% of students had suffered from sexual harassment or assault, or both, while studying.

This is the first time research has exposed this problem on such a large scale, with 5,000 current and past students from more than 150 universities being questioned.

Sir Michael Barber, chair of the Office for Students, said:

“Every student is entitled to a good learning experience and social experience, and the survey is disturbing because there are large numbers of young women saying there is a problem with sexual harassment.”

Revolt Sexual Assault was set up by University of Bristol student Hannah Price. She experienced sexual assault but didn’t feel able to report it. After leaving university, she decided to set up the campaign, allowing students to share their stories.

Hannah Price has argued that students are suffering in silence, and that there is very little data available about the subject. She also mentioned that “few respondents felt they had received the help they needed.”

An ITV News investigation found that the University of East Anglia had the highest number of reported rates, with over 135 incidents over the past 5 years.

However, according to the Revolt Sexual Assault Campaign, not many students who experience sexual assault at university report it. Only 6% of students who answered the survey said they had submitted a report to the university; 10% reported it to the police.

In addition, only 2% of those who experienced sexual assault or harassment both reported it to their university and felt satisfied with the process.

A spokesperson from Revolt Sexual Assault said: “We want to see a uniform national response to what now must be recognised as a nation-wide issue – an enforced and consistent standard of care implemented across the higher education sector.”

Rabeeah Moeen

(Image: revoltsexualassault.com)