Saskia

I’m a third year law student at university, and the 60+ year old Dean of the Law Faculty is known by everyone as an “overly friendly” man. I was unlucky enough to run into him on the ground floor of a university building with no one else around. He seemed really kind at first, asking how my studies were going. He then proceeded to touch my shoulder, then rub my arms and lower back, all the while getting closer to me and talking about how difficult a law degree is to get and how he is so happy there are more women graduating. Then, some people entered the room and he stepped back extremely quickly. He knew what he was doing was wrong. He is nationally regarded as an expert, and there is no way the faculty aren’t aware of his behaviour. They will never do anything, despite how completely inappropriate it is. After talking to others it became clear he invades the space of every female student he teaches. However, this behaviour is not covered by the university’s code of conduct, so there is nothing we can do; he knows that. It would also likely cause huge detriment to our studies due to the power he holds over us. I have no problem with addressing any harassment I have received before, but the situation and his power have made it impossible for me to report it without doing more detriment to myself than him.