Life Sciences: ‘College says sexual assault = bad’
Department sends weird email mentioning sexual assault incident
An email was sent out on Wednesday, to the Department of Life Sciences, informing recipients of a serious incident of sexual assault taking place last year between members of the department.
The email was signed off by Professor Murray Selkirk (Head of Department), Professor Neil, Fairweather (Postgraduate Tutor), Dr Stuart Haslam (Senior Tutor, Biochemistry) and Professor Pietro Spanu (Senior Tutor, Biological Sciences).
The precise wording of the communication was: “It has come to light that, last year, a serious incident of sexual assault took place between students of our Department. The College and the Department of Life Sciences take the view that such behaviour is completely unacceptable. “We take this opportunity to remind you of the official college policies on this, as well as advice for anyone who may have been involved in any incident of this kind”
The email also included links to College’s Harassment, Bullying and Victimisation policy, as well as to a College page with resources for victims of sexual assault.
It is unclear why the department of Life Sciences chose this line of communication, the sole purpose of which seems to be a reminder to the student body of the College finding such behaviour “completely unacceptable” – one would hope that the fact that sexual assault is illegal should suffice.
However it is likely that there has been more than one incident, with victims choosing not to come forth with allegations yet.
This email might be an attempt to reach out and support silent victims who may have failed to seek appropriate support.
We tried contacting Imperial College and the Department of Life Sciences to divulge the circumstances under which the sexaul assault took place, but no specifics have been released, such as whether the assault was reported to the police, or whether any disciplinary action was taken.
An official statement read that “The College’s priority is always the safety and wellbeing of its students and staff. Any kind of sexual violence or harassment has no place within our community. We treat any allegation of sexual assault with the utmost seriousness.
“Students would always be encouraged to contact the police if they feel they have been the victim of any crime. Any student who has experienced sexual violence and who would like to talk to a member of the College can contact the College Tutors, their personal tutor, Hall Wardens, or the student counselling service for advice and support.” We have yet to receive a reply from the Department of Life Sciences.
