By Louise Cripps, Investigations Editor
An Epigram analysis of crime in student residential areas has found that Old City Docks, where many city centre halls are located, has the highest rate of violent and sexual assault of any student area in Bristol.
Police statistics have shown that there were 950 counts of violent and sexual assault in the Old City Docks area between October 2017 and September 2018. This number accounts for a substantial 17.62 per cent of all crimes committed in City Docks last year. This statistic is more broadly located in the areas high crime rate, with a total of 4686 crimes committed last year alone. All other student areas had a crime rates below 1000.
The reported number of violent and sexual offences in Clifton, Stoke Bishop, Redland and Cotham last year, while high were significantly lower than that of Old City Docks. Clifton had 167 counts, Stoke Bishop 164, and then slightly lower was that of Cotham with 147 and Redland with 144.
This brings to attention Bristol SU’s recent ‘Let’s Talk About Sex’ survey, which found that nearly a third of female students felt unsafe on campus, compared to three per cent of men. While 60 per cent of female student said they felt unsafe walking home at night. Most damagingly the SU found that 52 per cent of Bristol students had experienced sexual harassment and 16 per cent had experienced sexual assault or rape whilst studying at the University of Bristol.
This comes with Bristol’s ‘Reclaim The Night March’ tomorrow. The march aims to highlight gender-based violence and gender inequality in Bristol. The protest will concluded with speeches and performances to ‘showcase and celebrate the work of the exceptional and diverse women of Bristol’.
Featured image: Bristol SU website
In explaining the impetus for the campaign, Chloe Lake, Chair of Bristol SU’s Women’s Network and the organiser of this year’s march, cited solidarity with the Irish rape trial campaigners. This months earlier controversial trail, in which a 17-year-old’s lacy underwear were used to acquit a man in Cork accused of rape, led to widespread protest.
Calling on Bristol students to march in solidarity with Irish campaigners, Lake has said ‘Bring your knickers; bring your banners; bring your megaphones, as we let the world know #This is Not Consent’. A number of other British Universities have held solidarity marches; including the University of Oxford where students marched in their underwear earlier this week.
