Women from 15 universities have signed a letter calling for a mandatory policy for dealing with sexual assault allegations in universities.

Many of the women said their allegations of sexual assault were mishandled or ignored by their universities.

No specific policy is currently compulsory in universities, and many have been accused of mishandling assault allegations.

Sexual assaults had taken place at the University of Kent Canterbury campus last December near the Eliot footpath. Reports of possibly just one man following and grabbing women in two separate instances forced the UN women’s committee to draw attention to the problem via their Instagram page.

The post was met with dozens of women sharing similar instances that had happened to them around Canterbury campus, yet they hadn’t reported due to fear of not being believed and in some cases felt too intimidated to do so.

I caught up with the committee in January, and they set out what they wanted to achieve. It was simple, they didn’t want this problem to be highlighted for a week and then forgotten, they wanted long-term action from the university. Better security training, more accessible resources, pathways to be lit properly, and a space for women to be heard.

Four months later in May, I again caught up with them to see what had been changed and was later dismayed to hear they had been pretty much ignored. “Brushed under the carpet” was the phrase used. It was inspiring to hear that despite these setbacks the committee was more determined than ever to keep pushing the university into making real change in time for next year’s freshers.

I asked for the email addresses they had reached out to, to see if I could invoke a response. Their statement was plain, they are still working on said statement.

The committee are desperate to be heard and taken seriously. They want people to enjoy their university experience, not fear it.