The Saint published an article last week headlined St Andrews Ranks Third Highest for Sexual Misconduct Reports Among Scottish Universities. Unfortunately I did not find myself surprised at this, rather it was a conversation I had following the publication of this article that took me aback.

I was discussing its contents with a fellow student – a male – expressing my concern that the number of sexual misconduct cases at St Andrews only falls shortly below the number of cases at Glasgow and Edinburgh University. How can a town of no more than 20,000 residents compare in number to the cases found in the biggest cities in Scotland? He said, “It is actually a good thing, this means that St Andrews students are reporting it because victims feel as though the university can actually do something to stop it. ”I nearly started laughing at his response, because it reaffirmed that men and women do not experience the world of misconduct, assault, and rape in the same way.

His attempt at finding a silver lining is something that allows him to continue living as normal, to make his way through life with the comforting belief that there are not many perpetrators in our university. That he could not be friends with, or share classes with, or even live in flats with them. He does not know that women keep a watchful eye over their drink even at the student union. He does not understand the question, ‘What should I wear?’, holds more weight to it than a simple desire to dress fashionably. He walks blissfully through the three streets of this town, unafraid of running into one of the many ‘creeps’ that walk the streets. But I know better. I know that this statistic highlights a massive problem the students at St Andrews face because I know not every case is reported, and that when they are, the university rarely takes sufficient action.

I make this claim because of both my own experiences and the experiences of other women in this university. The university promises to provide a steady support system to fight against perpetrators of sexual assault, yet waiting lines for Student Services remain long, and it is rare for any of the men reported to face real repercussions from the university. The university boasts of a system in which they will move around a student's class structure and assigned halls of residence in the event of an incident. So, that the perpetrator and survivor do not need to cross paths. But this town has three streets, and there is only so much subtle action, such as this, can do. Sure the University has a webpage which provides surviours of sexual violence access to support. However, just below that they provide resources for students accused of perpetrating that same violence, with the banner Guidance for students accused of sexual misconduct. This does not seem indicative of a university that fully supports victims and survivors over perpetrators.

Another reason that this statistic did not surprise me is because St Andrews, in its small-town fashion, seems to push the vilest people to the highest social standings. As you read this article, I bet you can think of at least three men who have ‘allegations’. A nickname we use to soften the blow of a rapist’s violent actions. And all of them probably fall into one of the secret societies, ‘charity’ committees, or maybe they are even participating in Fight Night. These men become notorious, and people often correlate notoriety with popularity, meaning that they continue to get invites to these events. But these events just breed more instances for assault and rape to happen. Despite these men getting labeled creepy they remain popular as it seems at St Andrews both the University and the student population do not hold any individuals completely accountable.

But is this a phenomenon specific to St Andrews? That is something I do not have an answer to, but I do think that when people come together from hundreds of different backgrounds there seem to be many things lost in translation. Even though we speak the same language, our cultural background remains different. This leads to miscommunication, and to women feeling especially insecure in their surroundings, thinking, this wouldn’t happen back home, maybe this is normal here. I also think there is something to be said about the extortionate amount of wealth many students come from. Many of these men come from backgrounds in which they have never been denied anything throughout their upbringing, so why would they accept a no now?

Sexual harassment and assault seems to continuously be an area which men and women continue to see differently, as the differences in privilege vastly impact each gender’s experience of sexual violence. This being said, there is no rule book to the type of individual who will be affected by assault, nor is there one on the type of individual who will perpetrate it. However, St Andrews University does have a rulebook for holding these violent individuals accountable, but I would argue that unfortunately, they do not follow it. And that is why St Andrews, a small town, ranks third in highest for Sexual Misconduct cases in Scotland.