TW: Sexual Harassment, Suicide
With online bullying skyrocketing in the last few decades, harassment of young adults is rarely discussed, especially involving an anonymous perpetrator.
Occurring during the last academic year, Halifax’s President Isabel Davies was the victim of online sexual harassment after an anonymous pornographic confession was submitted and posted to an Instagram page.
A year on, Vision exclusively interviews Issy about her experiences, the impact on her mental health and the lack of support she felt she received from the University.
Issy began by reiterating that “this is no way a bash at my college team or the current Sabbatical Officers. They have no part in this – everything was out of their control and they were not elected yet.”
A 2011 study found that 15.6% of respondents received harassing online communications from someone they didn’t know, causing higher fear and anxiety in online harassment victims.
Emotions relatable to Issy, the Halifax President described the moment she found out about the anonymous Instagram submission, with the post including pornographic phrases such as “penetration” and “held-down”:
“I saw loads of notifications, most of them from Instagram, saying people have shared something with me. I saw the post and it had my initials, accommodation name and number on it so everyone knew it was me. It also included a brief description that matched me perfectly.
“I felt so ashamed and embarrassed that so many of the people I knew had seen it and sent it to me asking me if I was okay. I felt sick to my stomach and I excused myself from the room and burst into tears. I started to go into one of the worst panic attacks I’ve had in my life. I think that was a good marker of where my mental health declined rapidly.”
Currently, students can access support on the YUSU website. In cases of online harassment, students are encouraged to be “resilient”, “spend less time online” and “spend time on activities that can take your mind off it such as sports or music” something that Issy was unable to do because of the impacts on her mental health.
Issy then described how she attempted to receive help from the University, but was unable:
“I instantly emailed the University asking for help since I was now a part of their higher division [as Halifax President] and I was greeted with “we can’t do anything since it’s on the Internet and from an anonymous account.
“I felt really betrayed by the University as a whole, and very alone. At that point, I felt like it didn’t matter. For a few days I pleaded with the account to take the post down but until they did I just sat and watched the likes go up. It was so humiliating to be in a position of power over something and for it to be flipped.”
Current guidance promoted by the “Staying Safe Online – Social Media Tips for Students” document from the YUSU website also mentions blocking and muting as a possible method of avoiding continued harassment, however due to the nature of Issy’s online hate she was unable to avoid public attention.
A University of York spokesperson said: “We are sorry to hear about this experience and recognise the significant and distressing impact that online sexual harassment can have.
“The University’s Sexual Violence Lision Officers (SVLOs) provide specialist advice and guidance to those who have experienced Sexual Violence or Harassment, and students can also speak to welfare support staff who are based in each College, as well as the Open Door Team who provide confidential emotional support.”
Speaking vulnerably to Vision, Issy described the immediate impact the post, and alleged lack of University support, had on her mental health:
“People would come up to me, recognise me, and put two and two together. I would get sexually harassed over a post that wasn’t even in existance anymore. Some people saw it as a green light to say the most disgusting things to me or even in one or two cases grope me. They saw something I had no control over or part in as consent. This destroyed me and triggered my PTSD from a previous trauma.
“Something that isn’t talked about enough is when something like this happens you start sexualising yourself since it warps your perception of self. It took me a really long time to get out of that mindset.”
In higher education in the UK, it has been found that 71.9% of online harassment victims were female, with 87% of victims being undergraduates, with Issy’s experience of online harassment in her first year becoming an all too regular occurrence at university.
Issy also spoke to Vision about the impact of her experiences on her university studies:
“I started skipping lectures and seminars not wanting to leave the accommodation to avoid panic attacks, and sleeping all day just to avoid having to deal with my emotions. I debated transferring to another university where nobody knows what happened and nobody will harass me. My confidence was destroyed. I would feel so self conscious and embarrassed when I left my accommodation that I would have a panic attack or start to be visibly upset. Eventually, I decided I couldn’t take care of myself and went home.”
A study by Ditch the Label found that 37% of online harassment victims develop some form of social anxiety, with Issy’s reluctance to attend university a common occurrence for students experiencing online harassment.
In an email received by Issy at the time, Issy was told by a University representative that “as it’s run anonymously and not as an official University site”, there are “limited options”. Issy was informed that “it’s very limited what the University can do, as we have no way of knowing who is responsible”.
A University spokesperson said: “While the University does not have the powers to remove offensive material from anonymous or independent social media accounts, we speak to students and advise on actions that could be taken – this may include reporting online harassment to the platform itself, and using our Report and Support tool to access information about the options that a student has in cases such as these.”
Issy also stated that her Mum stuck by her side throughout:
“One of the worst moments of my entire life was having to explain to my Mum why I was so upset and why I wasn’t getting any work done and why I was having these suicidal and self harm thoughts that I haven’t had since I was fourteen or fifteen. I had to explain to my Mum that somebody wrote a disgusting, filthy thing, published it and that around 400 people saw it. “
According to a 2020 study, 51% of victims of online harassment believe that permanently suspending harmful users and social media accounts would reduce harassment on social media, with a further 48% stating that disclosing the account’s real identities would be very effective – two solutions that were not made available to Issy.
Now nearly a year on, Issy explained the desensitisation she still feels surrounding the experience:
“I still get comments made in bars and clubs but not as often. The account changed admins and somehow I managed to obtain the name of the admins. However, I’m still powerless against them because the University isn’t willing to investigate these accounts and stop the hate. The Instagram admins still run the account, harass students, shame them and post content.”
A University spokesperson said: “No matter how long ago the incident occurred, support and advice can still be sought by reporting any concerns through our Report and Support tool, where specialist advisors are available to discuss and help further.”
Despite being turned towards the Conduct and Respect team at the time of the harassment, Issy felt she was not offered much well-being support by the University. Instead, she was told to report the post as inappropriate to Instagram: a 2017 study found that Instagram has the highest rate of online harassment, with 42% experiencing bullying out of the 78% of young adults who use the social media.
“The University just didn’t give a fuck: they said there wasn’t anything that they can do and that I’d have to do it myself. So I had to go through things, contact these people, bargain with them, plead with them to take it down – it was the most demoralising and humiliating thing.”
“People can argue it’s unrealistic to expect the University to help, however the Presidents of Colleges are one of the first impressions on the University a fresher will get. We receive all backlash from a higher up decision, we are a critical part of the University’s image yet we are the most neglected mental health and wellbeing wise.
“It shouldn’t be my responsibility to go after these people and bring this to a close.”