Cambridge univ revises sexual assault guidelines

Victims of sexual assault at Cambridge University can now report their cases directly to officials at one of the world’s oldest educational institutions, which was criticized earlier for its failure to protect students from sexual violence.

Previously , in line with other UK universities, Cambridge followed guidelines laid out in the 1994 Zellick Report, which advised universities against investigating “serious“ offences and proposed that disciplinary action should only be taken following relevant action by the police and courts.

The new policy will allow victims to formally report allegations of sexual violence to the university directly for the first time.

Last year, a survey by Cambridge University Students’ Union reported 77% of respondents had experienced sexual harassment, 30% had experienced sexual assault and that the majority of such assaults went unreported.