{"id":2983,"date":"2025-11-24T19:05:32","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T19:05:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/?p=2983"},"modified":"2025-11-24T21:33:26","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T21:33:26","slug":"while-the-iron-is-hot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/?p=2983","title":{"rendered":"While The Iron is Hot …"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Katherine Griffiths<\/a>‘ article in Bloomberg<\/a> has reignited press interest in bullying & harassment at UK Universities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 21 Group has zero sympathy with the predicament of Oxford University. They should have acted on the earlier allegations in al Jazeera’s series  <\/em>‘Degrees of Abuse<\/em>‘.<\/a> They didn’t. It’s no surprise to us that the problem has returned. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also know that there are more cases of sexual harassment pending at Tribunals, and — shamefully — there are more victims being pursued by Oxford University’s hyper-aggressive lawyers. We look forward to these stories breaking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We will break them ourselves, if need be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 21 Group works with MPs of any party to end bullying & harassment at universities. Given the revelations at Oxford University, we applaud Layla Moran<\/a>, the MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, for her proactive stance. She is reported here <\/a>as seeking answers from Vice Chancellor Irene Tracey<\/a> over the never-ending sexual abuse cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By contrast, the MP for Oxford East, Anneliese Dodds<\/a>, has maintained a conspicuous silence, despite being a former female academic and a Visiting Fellow of Nuffield College.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have written to Layla Moran MP thus:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dear Layla Moran MP<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are writing in light of the recent revelations of entrenched sexual harassment at Oxford University. These incidents are not isolated, nor are they surprising. Across many UK universities, misconduct and outright violations of the law are allowed to flourish because the systems meant to prevent abuse are designed to protect institutions \u2014 not people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We applaud your strong stance on these matters, as reported in Bloomberg. The Vice Chancellor of Oxford should be pressed to explain why her institution did nothing effective over earlier abuse allegations (for example, the harassers exposed in Al Jazeera’s ‘Degrees of Abuse). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Cambridge, we have witnessed firsthand that behind the glossy PR statements and empty commitments to change, the university\u2019s real priorities are simple: secure student fees, research overheads and donor money while shielding its own reputation at any cost. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do not be taken in by empty promises of reform from Vice Chancellors. These are not steps toward accountability; they are cosmetic gestures meant to pacify scrutiny. Our universities — especially Oxford and Cambridge — have a long record of defending its senior, predominantly male, staff while deploying public money on high-priced lawyers, gagging orders, non-disclosure agreements and reputation managers. The so-called complaints procedures are not mechanisms for justice; they are instruments for burying problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reality is clear: internal systems will never hold themselves to account. What is urgently required is an entirely independent supervisory authority and a legally enforceable right for students and staff to speak out without retaliation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are campaigning for an external Ombudsman to take over the investigation of serious abuses in Universities. It is part of a series of changes needed to ensure proper governance structures in UK Higher Education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you for your strong stand on these matters<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prof Wyn Evans for the 21 Group<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

We encourage all Cambridge victims to contact our MP, Daniel Zeichner<\/a>. We will be writing to him with details of some of the serious abuses that have occurred at Cambridge University over the last few years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us strike while the iron is hot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Katherine Griffiths‘ article in Bloomberg has reignited press interest in bullying & harassment at UK Universities. The 21 Group has zero sympathy with the predicament of Oxford University. They should have acted on the earlier allegations in al Jazeera’s series  ‘Degrees of Abuse‘. They didn’t. It’s no surprise to us […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2983"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2983\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2999,"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2983\/revisions\/2999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}