UWI Mona reacts to campus rape report

The Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies is disputing a study presented by former lecturer about a culture of gender-based violence on its St Andrew campus.



Speaking on Cliff Hughes Online this morning, Campus registrar, Dr Camille Bell-Hutchinson said the report lacked evidence to support its claims.



Former UWI lecturer and gender analyst, Taitu Heron, chronicled some of the reported cases of violence against women on the campus in her study Whose Business Is It? Violence Against Women at UWI, Mona.



Heron, now a UN development specialist, reported that between 2010 and 2012, the offices of security services received 67 reports of violence against female students on campus, most of which took place on the halls.



However, the UWI registrar says while the university cannot say sexual violence does not take place on campus, the university has never had a report of sexual harassment on any of its six halls of residence.



Meanwhile, Dr Bell-Hutchinson says the university has established mechanisms to ensure that violence and particularly gender-based violence, is prevented.



She is insisting that the university does not have wide-scale cases of gender-based violence on campus.



The registrar says the university is more concerned about male-on-male violence on campus.



Bell-Hutchinson says there is a need for conflict management and instilling of social graces among students.



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