SCAN has recently learned that the female York student who reported the Lancaster student and Swimming and Water Polo Society member for sexist chants, was not happy with the overall outcome of the investigation and believes that more needed to be done.
The investigation into the sexist chanting that occurred during this year’s Roses tournament took place after the tournament and led to the Lancaster student admitting to the allegations and privately apologising to those involved. The York student was one of those involved and received a private apology, but felt that this was not a good enough response from the university. The York student told SCAN that although she is “appreciative and thankful for the co-operation of the Lancaster Union so far”, she doesn’t believe “a private apology to [her], a spectator, is a suitable response as it failed to address the victims in anyway”.
The York student also mentioned her disappointment with the Swimming and Water Polo Society’s comments on the situation. She said that she “objects[s] to the Water Polo Club’s comment that the situation has been ‘thankfully dealt with’ for ‘all involved’” because she believes that a “public apology is necessary to reach the victims and other witnesses who were present at the time and all affected”.
Mia Scott, VP (Welfare and Community), who has been working closely with those involved, spoke to SCAN in response to these comments. Scott spoke about the way the complaints system in LUSU works and why the result may have been unsatisfactory for some of those involved. She said, “The way LUSU’s complaints procedures work is that they offer a place for the individual making the complaint to suggest an ideal outcome. In this case, the individual specified her preferred outcome and we managed to fulfil those wishes for her.”
Despite this, Scott also clarified that “LUSU does not condone sexual harassment or discrimination of any form and it never would or has been out intention to cover anything up or brush anything as serious as this under the carpet.”
Scott believes that the individual and the Swimming and Water Polo Society have learnt from this situation and for her she believes that “on a political level, this is not about getting revenge or punishing someone, it is about educating them on why their behaviour was wrong”.
SCAN was also informed that the University and the Union will continue to work with the complainant as much as they can to resolve the issue.
