SU survey finds nearly a third of female students feel unsafe on campus

By Imogen Horton, News Editor

Bristol SU’s 2018 ‘Let’s Talk About Sex’ survey has found that only 70 per cent of female students feel safe on campus compared to 97 per cent of men.

The 2018 survey covered a range of topics relating to sex and relationship education, consent, sexual health and student experiences of harassment and assault.

Of particular note, were statistics relating to the safety of students in Bristol. While 90 per cent of male students said they felt safe walking home at night this dropped to 40 per cent for women. However even fewer women felt safe in Bristol city centre, where a number of Bristol University halls are located, with only 34 per cent of female students saying they felt safe.

The UK government this year has sought to bring about changes to sex and relationship education with the announcement of new consultations occurring in July. For many university students, however, this is too little too late as only 23 per cent agreed that their sex and relationship education had prepared them for healthy relationships.

While 38 per cent of students reported to have had education on when someone can give consent, only 35 per cent agreed that their sex and relationship education had given them a comprehensive understanding of consent. This lack of adequate sex education was not limited to home students, with nearly a quarter of international and EU students had had no sex education whatsoever.

Further, over half of all students had experienced sexual harassment and nearly a fifth of female students had experienced sexual assault or rape whilst at university.

It was also found that nearly half of sexually active students had never been STI or STD tested as although 90 per cent of students were not celibate, 41 per cent had never been tested for an STI or STD. The report consequently recommended that the University and Bristol SU launch a campaign to promote sexual health testing and lobby the council to provide funding to reintroduce full sexual health screenings at the Student Health Service.

The results prompted a number of recommendations for the Bristol University and the SU, from introducing trauma support in the counselling service to improving university-wide consent education. There were also calls to reform extenuating circumstances to better include experiences of harassment, assault and rape, experiences of pregnancy and of relationship break-up.

Featured Image: Imogen Horton / Epigram

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