Content Warning: This article contains themes of rape which some readers may find distressing.

Recent research has criticised the response frameworks of UK universities for dealing with online abuse suffered by students.

The study, led by Professor Andy Phippen and Professor Emma Bond, requested information from all UK universities regarding their procedures for responding to online abuse faced by students. The findings indicated that current practices were ‘patchy’ and ‘appalling’ and that universities rely too heavily on anonymous reporting mechanisms. 

This system has been labelled ‘a mere sticking plaster’ by the report, as it reduces the chance that the university is able to  help the individual who has reported the abuse.

The research follows on from the Warwick University scandal when a student group chat was exposed for messages in which they threatened to rape their close female friends. After investigation by the university, one student was expelled and given a lifetime ban from campus, two others were expelled and initially banned from campus for 10 years, and a further two were excluded for a year. 

The university faced further backlash after the two ten-year bans were reduced to twelve months. The university’s response and investigation has been criticised for resulting in a ‘profoundly unsatisfactory outcome for almost every single person involved,’ and was found by the independent review to have ‘been more concerned with its own reputational interests than in a fair or just assessment of the case.’ Warwick university has since apologised for the way it handled the complaints of the female students targeted in the group chat.

Questions have also arisen from Phippen and Bond’s report regarding universities who reported no incidents, or a very low number of incidents of online abuse. It is believed that these universities are either an example of ‘oases of virtue in a world where online abuse is common,’ or that the existing frameworks were neglecting to record instances of abuse and failing to encourage students to report harassment.

Describing the findings as ‘poor … but unsurprising,’ Phippen also states that universities are ‘too scared to do something effective’ about the subject of abuse.