The University of Zurich published the number of sexual abuse cases

PublishedApril 27, 2024, 3:46 p.m.

Under pressure, the University of Zurich recently published data on sexual harassment cases. The number of abuses is increasing.

For the first time ever, the University of Zurich recently published figures on the number of cases of sexual harassment that have occurred within the institution. A publication that was delayed: the institute feared a leak of data, even anonymized, making it possible to identify attackers and victims. A justification which had perplexed the canton’s data protection commissioner, to say the least, according to the “NZZ”. He wondered how the number of cases could have been associated with specific people.

According to the documents that the German-speaking daily finally obtained, the number of cases of sexual harassment has increased significantly in recent years. The record was set at 43 recorded cases, just for the year 2023. As a reminder, the University of Zurich welcomes no less than 28,000 students and employs around 10,000 professionals.

If the nature of the attacks is not clearly described in the documents, the faculty of medicine is particularly mentioned. The students of the sector had presented themselves to the management of the department to complain. After discussions, an association against sexual harassment in hospitals was created.

The canton of Vaud is no exception when it comes to sexual harassment. At the end of 2021, 14% of EPFL students claimed to have suffered sexual assault, 3% said they had been victims of rape. More recently, in December 2022, the University of Lausanne listed nearly 150 cases of abuse over the previous five years. The students had also taken the lead on social networks, before the publication of the reports, with two Instagram accounts titled @payetonunil and @payetonepfl. The latter now combine 360 ​​testimonies.