Drama students ‘forced to kiss without consent’ in acting classes
STUDENTS at a leading drama school were encouraged to kiss and grope classmates without prior consent or warning, it has been alleged, as two young actresses launch a legal action saying they were sexually assaulted.
Alyse Mccamish and Sydney Feder, both 23 and from the United States, are suing the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama for negligence, after they say their complaints of sexual assault were not handled properly.
The Royal Welsh College, whose alumni include Sir Anthony Hopkins, Ruth Jones and Rob Brydon, and whose president is the Prince of Wales, is facing allegations it failed to properly investigate misconduct claims after seven women reported a male student.
Ms Feder, from Connecticut, described a culture that rewarded sexual misconduct and said she felt unsafe right from the start. “From day one I had a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that this was not a safe space,” she told the BBC. “In acting classes, people would kiss you … or grope you without consent and they would be encouraged by staff and congratulated for making that bold decision.”
But it was in her third year that she says she was assaulted while alone in the female changing room during a rehearsal of a final-year show. Ms Mccamish,
from Tennessee, said she ended up quitting the course early because of her experience of being sexually assaulted during freshers week.
An internal investigation by the college found on the balance of probabilities the allegations of inappropriate touching were proven, but there was insufficient evidence to prove Ms Mccamish’s allegation of sexual assault.
The male student was suspended for two weeks and, in a letter to students, apologised to anyone who “felt unsafe and uncomfortable around me”. According to the BBC, he denied the allegations of sexual assault.
The Royal College said: “The safety and well-being of our students and staff is our first priority … We treat every report of any incident as serious. This allegation is the subject of a sensitive and ongoing legal process. Because we respect that process it would not be right to comment further on specific details.”