The National University of Singapore (NUS) is investigating a recent sexual misconduct complaint that has been lodged against two staff members. The internal probe surrounds a sex-for-grades case involving a former student, that allegedly took place off-campus.
Although NUS first received the complaint over a month ago, on 2 Dec 2020, no police report has been lodged yet. A summary of the complaint was featured in NUS’ first report on sexual misconduct, which was recently sent to students and staff.
The report showed that NUS received 71 sexual misconduct complaints involving students over the past five years, with the number of complaints against staff rising substantially from three to 10 cases between 2019 and 2020.
NUS said that all victims are given support through a Care Officer in its Victims Care Unit (VCU). The Provost is empowered to take action like withdrawing or suspending parties whenever necessary and the school also serves no-contact orders to prevent further interaction between the parties involved.
All students and staff are also set to undergo a mandatory “Respect and consent module”, with other refresher courses on safety in the pipeline.
The university said, in the foreword to its report: “We are taking a holistic approach towards addressing sexual misconduct. We recognise the importance of raising awareness in the NUS community, enhancing infrastructure for better campus safety, instituting a strict framework for disciplinary sanctions, and offering comprehensive victim support.”