Be ‘honest’ about sexual harassment support, universities told

Universities need to be “open and honest” about what support they are able to provide victims of sexual assault to ensure they are not giving “false” promises to students, a woman at the heart of a major university court case has claimed.

Speaking on a webinar about using legal activism to address gender-based harm in higher education, Sydney Feder, who won a court case in 2023 against her university, discussed the “extremely difficult” process of pursuing legal action against her institution.

A court ruled in 2023 that the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) failed to properly investigate or respond to allegations of sexual and physical assault reported by Feder and fellow student Alyse McCamish by the same male student, and that universities owe a duty of care to students to carry out reasonable investigations in cases of sexual assault.

Feder outlined that the case took more than five years to conclude, and said the process was “very difficult” and that she found herself “struggling and grappling with difficulties seemingly in all areas of life”. 

She outlined that she had originally been due to be a witness for her co-claimant, before being advised by a lawyer that her experience was “a case in itself” and that multiple cases were more likely to result in success. 

Feder was awarded £5,000 by the court and decided to give up her legal right to anonymity to be able to campaign and raise awareness of sexual violence at universities. She has since established the campaign group Student Survivors Coalition for Safeguarding Policies.

Anna Bull, a founding member of The 1752 Group, which campaigns against gender-based violence in higher education, described the case as a “landmark” decision that resulted in greater rights for victims of gender-based harassment at UK universities, and said the case was unusual as “universities almost always settle these cases, which is why it’s so unusual to actually have this in the public domain, and so valuable too”.

Feder said the idea of testifying “genuinely kept me up at night” and that her motivation for taking action was for the university “to change its policies”.

“Our goal had been to set a precedent. That was very clear, so that it wouldn’t just benefit people that had to bring forward a case, but that it would encourage universities to make proper changes so that there would be less cases altogether.”

While new requirements have been introduced for universities to protect students from sexual harassment, she said “it still doesn’t feel quite like enough” and that there are “still very limited ways for students and staff, but particularly students, to hold the universities to account”.

When asked about how universities could better support students who are victims of sexual violence, she said that universities need to be “more transparent” about their capacity to support students.

"I think they need to be honest about what they can and can’t do. There were often times in this case where I viewed it as almost false advertising. If you have a page dedicated to the safety of your students and you have a safeguarding officer but then that officer has no safeguarding training, you are leading students to believe that you have a system in place and that you do care, and then they come to find out that you don’t,” Feder said.

“I think I personally would have found it much more easy to deal with if they had just been open and honest with me about their lack of control and their lack of knowledge, as opposed to just trying to hide it and be sneaky.”

An RWCMD spokesperson said that the case has “transformed and continually reviewed how we respond to sensitive disclosures, how we deal with complaints or concerns and how we support and safeguard our students”. 

“We are determined to do everything we can to be a safe and respectful learning space so we will never stop listening to and working with our students and staff and learning from others,” the spokesperson said. “Our college is one where students learn and thrive in a safe and supportive environment and we will always focus on that.”

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com