22 April 2026
Open Letter Regarding Pervasive Culture of Harassment in Medicine at the University of Manchester

Dear Professor Duncan Ivison,

Re: Pervasive Culture of Sexual Harassment in the School of Medical Sciences

I am writing to you as an undergraduate student at the University of Manchester, that I have called my home for 6 years. I write, to make you aware of repeated incidents of sexual harassment and intimidation that have befallen myself and my female colleagues reading Medicine.

Gathered evidence demonstrates that for several years, women have been receiving anonymous calls, during which where they are subjected to scare tactics and sexual harassment. These range from telling them they are being watched, to asking them to perform sexual favours or indeed screaming gender-based slurs, all targeted to moments of vulnerability, in the early hours of the morning.

These have been affecting women in our medical school, since, at current estimate, 2023. I came forward with my own experience on Thursday the 16th of April 2026, to my colleagues in year 5 of the Medicine MBChB programme. To date, 15 women, across multiple cohorts have contributed to my police report of harassment. We urge the University of Manchester to respond firmly, and swiftly, in staunch opposition to this practice as not only being against the code of the school, but the institution, and in fact the very oath sworn and standard demanded of those entering a career in Medicine.

I and these other women have received the firm support of the police, the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, as well as the British Medical Association, in continuing to escalate these cases. Now, the University must respond.

This is not about individual punishment. It must not be misconstrued as a plea for revenge or an unfounded vendetta. These men are anonymous to us. They are currently faceless, we cannot see them, but we can hear them, feel them at all times.

This escalation is about collectively establishing a precedent that safety is the minimum expectation and the cornerstone of education at our university; it is about an unequivocal statement that behaviour such as this, a prerequisite to sexual violence, is unacceptable on every count and shall not be tolerated anywhere, let alone by those being elevated to a public position of trust. We must beg the question: what institutional failing, has led to these individuals so comfortably, gleefully and successfully continuing this behaviour for so long?

I would rue the day that I allowed the actions of a few weak and cowardly men to tarnish the good name of this profession, and particularly skew the perceptions of male doctors, be that in training or as these men possibly enter practice, given the overwhelming volume of excellence I have observed from male clinicians. It is the career-long efforts of my male peers and mentors, that moves me to prevent these men, small in both character and number, from overshadowing the commitment of the majority, to the highest standard of care and genuine safety for their patients.

The support garnered to these cases, from both professional colleagues and the public, motivates me to continue this advocacy, irrespective of institutional level backing. If one less young woman feels unsafe in her own home, feels less alone in experiencing these attempts to intimidate and belittle her, then we have succeeded. Above all, in the words of the great Gisele Pelicot, I hope to see the shame of these events change sides. Those who currently move in a panic to rectify their tarnished records and erase their dark history of misogynistic behaviour, ought to continue to feel the trepidation, panic and fear for a long while, that I, alongside all those women coming forward, have had to experience as consequences of their actions.

To conclude, we urge you as President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester, to initiate a formal review of sexism within the School of Medical Sciences. Such proceedings to include investigation into the number of perpetrators of sexual violence permitted to enter and continue their studies on professional courses. For declaration of the number of cases of harassment, assault and other incidences of gender-based violence within the school and to rectify unresolved reports made at every level, across the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health.

We thank you for your attention to this matter and look forward to your response.

Yours faithfully,

Miss Charlotte Amelia Buttercase, MSc

Final year Medicine MBChB Student, University of Manchester

502
signatures
423 verified
  1. Charlotte Buttercase, Medical Student, University of Manchester
  2. Hannah McSorley, final year medical student, University of Manchester MBChB, Manchester
  3. Katherine Pitts, Medical student, University of Manchester, Manchester
  4. Zainab Qaisar, Medical Student, University of Manchester, Rochdale
  5. Logan Carnegie, Medical Student, Bolton
  6. Rebecca Gibson, Medical student, University of Manchester, Manchester
  7. Rosalind Walsh, Medical Student, University of Manchester, Manchester
  8. Isabelle Newman, Medical student, University of Manchester, Manchester
  9. Liam Wilson, Medical Student, University of Manchester, Manchester
  10. Harpriya Kalsi, Medical Student, University of Manchester, Manchester
  11. Nikhita Varma, Medical Student, University of Manchester, Manchester
  12. Neve Foster-Croll, Medical Student, University of Manchester, Manchester
  13. Eilis Fitzgerald, Medical student, University of Manchester
  14. Alice Letherby, 5th Year Medical Student, University of Manchester, Manchester
  15. Katie Frost, Student, University of Manchester medical school, Manchester
  16. Sarah Shackleton, Medical Student 4th Year, University of Manchester, Manchester
  17. Sion Ellis, Medical Student, University of Manchester, Manchester
  18. Lydia Head, Medical student, University of Manchester
  19. Joanna Hamilton, Office Administrator, Cambridge
  20. Ritik Melwani, Doctor, Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital, Shrewsbury
...
383 more
verified signatures
  1. anjali sandhu
  2. Habeeb, Med student, Uom, Manchester
  3. Ruba al-kandari, Medical student, University of Manchester MBChB, Manchester
  4. Ryan Wall, Biotech, Parse Biosciences, Cambridge
  5. Tomike Sunmonu, Medical student
  6. Tayah Fraser, Student, University of Sheffield, Sheffield
  7. Zenia Cheung, Medical student, University of Manchester
  8. Mia Herkanaidu, Tax Adviser, Ernst & Young LLP, London
  9. Isabella Janes, Medical Student, University of Manchester, Manchester
  10. Phoebe Williams, Student, UoM, Manchester
  11. Matthew Knight, Biology Student, University of Manchester, Manchester
  12. Poppy Dyson, Student, University of Manchester, Manchester
  13. Niki Jay, med student, Manchester
  14. Polly Flanders, Medical student, University of Manchester, Manchester
  15. Adam Buchan, Medical Student, University of Manchester
  16. Ayesha Waseem, Medical student, The University of Manchester, Manchester
  17. Grace Pinder, Medical Student, University of Manchester
  18. Remi Abi, medical student, KCL, London
  19. Ankush Vedala, Medical student, University of Manchester, Manchester
  20. Inez McCurley, Doctor, NHS, London
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