The University of Manchester has launched an investigation after approximately 20 female medical students reported receiving anonymous phone calls in the middle of the night from male callers who subjected them to intimidation and sexual harassment. According to Charlotte Buttercase, a final-year medical student and one of the victims, these calls have persisted for at least three years.
Students have been woken in the dead of night to hear callers claim they are being watched, request sexual favors, or scream gender-based insults. Buttercase, 24, described her own experience: on April 16, she received a call at 2 a.m. from an anonymous number. During a two-minute interaction, she was subjected to sexually harassing comments. Alone in a dark room, she felt incredibly intimidated, demeaned, and belittled by the incident, which involved one man speaking and three men laughing in the background.
Upon speaking with fellow medical students, Buttercase discovered that 16 calls were made within 22 minutes that night, and she was the fifth woman targeted. Other students have since come forward with similar stories of sexual harassment, both in person and via phone calls.
In an open letter to Vice-Chancellor Duncan Ivison, Buttercase called for a formal review of what she described as a pervasive culture of sexual harassment within the School of Medical Sciences. She wrote: If one less young woman feels unsafe in her own home, feels less alone in experiencing these attempts to intimidate and belittle her, then we have succeeded.
National statistics indicate that one in three female students report experiencing sexual harassment during their time at university or college. A recent survey by the Office for Students, England's higher education regulator, found that students at leading universities are more than twice as likely to experience sexual harassment compared to those at lower tariff institutions. The research also identified hotspots of sexual harassment and assault among students in high-entry-grade courses such as medicine, dentistry, veterinary sciences, and languages.
In response to the Manchester case, the BMA medical students' committee co-chairs, Henry Budden and Elgan Manton-Roseblade, condemned the incidents, stating: These incidents are appalling and have no place in medical school or education. This deplorable behavior violates the rights of thousands of medical students to be safe, secure, and supported while training to become doctors. The BMA is committed to working with students at Manchester leading the campaign and with national stakeholders to eliminate all forms of sexual violence towards medical students across the country.
Professor Ashley Blom, Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, said the issues raised are deeply concerning and will be treated with the utmost seriousness. He emphasized: No member of our community should ever experience behavior that makes them feel unsafe, intimidated, or harassed. Our immediate priority is supporting the affected students. We have launched a formal investigation into the specific allegations and are also undertaking a wider review of the cultural and systemic issues identified. We will continue to take whatever action is necessary to address these issues and deliver meaningful, lasting change. We know that our students and colleagues must have confidence that concerns will be listened to, taken seriously, and acted upon.
