More than one in five women and one in 20 men have experienced rape or sexual assault as adults, according to Rape Crisis England and Wales.
However, victims seem to struggle to come forward to report their experiences.
Rape Crisis England and Wales states that of those victims and survivors who have told someone about what happened but did not tell the police, 40 per cent said it was because of embarrassment, 38 per cent said it was because they did not think the police would help, and 34 per cent said they thought it would be humiliating.
As Sexual Violence Awareness Week 2022 (Monday, February 14 – Sunday, February 20), which aims to support people whose voices are not heard, was kicked off today by Nottingham Trent Students’ Union and Nottingham Trent University, a survey conducted by Platform Magazine found that 85.7 per cent of NTU students have not reported sexual violence acts that they were victims of while at university.
According to the survey, 47.1 per cent (33 out of 70) of girls have been sexually assaulted, while 9 per cent (2 out of 22) boys have been victims of any kind of sexual violence.
In spite of these statistics, only five out of 33 (15.1 per cent) girls who took part in the survey said that they reported being victims of sexual violence, while none of the two boys have done so.
That means only 14.3 per cent of NTU students have reported being victims of sexual abuse since moving to university.
To raise awareness of this issue and highlight the support available in the local community, NTSU is collaborating with NTU by hosting a series of events over the week.
A Sexual Violence Awareness Week panel is set to take place tomorrow, Tuesday, February 15, from 3 – 5pm via Microsoft Teams, which aims to discuss the pros and cons of reporting sexual violence and the myths and reality of what that is really like.
The event will host panellists from various organisations, including the Topaz Centre, Notts Sexual Violence Support Services, Notts Police, and the CPS, and is available to both students and staff.
Stalls will also be available on City, Clifton, and Brackenhurst campuses, where students can learn about the support available at NTSU.
To find out more about the events and what support is available, visit the NTSU Sexual Violence Awareness Week page.
Lead image: Rucsandra Moldoveanu (inset: Nottingham Trent Students Union)