The Gwynedd Community Safety Partnership is funding a new initiative, offering free personal attack alarms to students at Bangor University.
A recent survey published by the National Union of Students shows that one in seven female students have been the victim of serious sexual assault or serious physical violence whilst at university or college.
The Hidden Marks study is based on a poll of more than 2,000 current female students in the UK who were surveyed between August 2009 and March 2010. Ten per cent of the respondents were studying in universities or colleges here in Wales. The study reveals in the majority of cases in which a student had been attacked, assaulted or stalked, the victim knew the offender.
However students have the right to enjoy university life, without fear of violence and we must not forget that Gwynedd is one of the safest places to live in the UK. These alarms are being made available to help keep students safe, especially if they have been drinking alcohol – which can make people more vulnerable.
The Gwynedd Community Safety Partnership’s Domestic Abuse Coordinator, Kelly Mitchell said: “The results of this survey highlights a need to raise awareness amongst our students on how to keep safe, where they can go to seek help and to also give victims the confidence to come forward and report these incidents.
“Although the survey only refers to female victims, we do acknowledge that men are also victims of sexual assaults, therefore this initiative isn’t gender specific and the alarms are available to everyone.”
Support is available through the North Wales Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre (RASA), they provide specialist support services to anyone within in the north Wales area who has experienced any form of sexual violence including restorative abuse. They provide a helpline, face-to-face counseling and information. RASA can be contacted by phoning (01286) 669 266.
Bangor University takes student safety extremely seriously and offer a range of services and also provide a dedicated police officer within the campus to support the students.
Any student interested in obtaining a free alarm can contact Community Beat Manager PC 911 Gwenno Jones at Bangor Police Station on 101.
