Action to tackle abuse by students
A GRIEVING mother whose student daughter took her own life has persuaded ministers to consider action to tackle mental abuse at Scottish universities.
emily Drouet, 18, was found dead eight days after her boyfriend Angus Milligan turned up at her halls at Aberdeen university and attacked her in a jealous rage.
Her mother, Fiona, 45, is leading a campaign calling on universities to introduce better training for staff to spot signs that female students have been the victims of abuse.
It is also urging them to publish figures on sex assaults and other violent crimes against women on campus.
Yesterday, Mrs Drouet met Further education Minister Shirley-Anne Somerville at Holyrood. Miss Somerville said: ‘university and college campuses should be places where students can live, study and research free of sexual harassment and gender-based violence.
‘We are totally committed to playing our part in ensuring this happens across all higher and further education institutions in Scotland.
‘One of our key tasks is rolling out the toolkit developed by the university of Strathclyde, which will offer practical tools for universities and colleges to assess their policies and practices and to tackle unacceptable behaviour.’
Miss Drouet died in 2016, only six months into her degree. Last year, Aberdeen Sheriff court heard that Milligan, 21, a descendant of philanthropist Andrew carnegie, assaulted her in March 2016. The couple had been dating but the relationship had soured.
The teenager, from Glasgow, took her own life shortly after Milligan, pictured above, was seen visiting her.
He was sentenced to 12 months’ supervision and ordered to do 180 hours of unpaid work as part of a community payback order.
Yesterday, Mrs Drouet said: ‘Young people are facing bullying and abuse online, and text messages bombarding them.
‘This is intense, you can’t escape from it. For emily, it was relentless. He wouldn’t give her a break. It escalated so quickly and she was in denial about it, trying to pacify him.’