At least 32 women studying at the University of Manchester say they have been tormented by male peers during terrifying late-night calls
The first call came at 2am.
Unsolicited and anonymous, Charlotte answered, thinking it could be a fellow student, a friend or loved one in distress.
A male voice spoke. He said he was re-sitting his exams and needed help from Charlotte in her capacity as president of student educational society Manchester MedEd. But when she told him it was not an appropriate time to call, the voice is alleged to have said ‘no, Buttercase I need you now’.
Again, she stressed it was not appropriate and asked if the caller was OK, the voice allegedly continued: “I need you now. I’m going to kill myself”.
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An apparently flippant remark, it was particularly upsetting for Charlotte who, as a teenager, lost someone close to her to suicide. Shocked, she replied: “That’s not funny, that’s never funny, but if you genuinely need help, I’ll try and help you.”
Then came the laughter. From what appeared to be three other males in the background. The speaker said he needed to know what emotional and physical support Charlotte could offer him.
When asked what he meant by this, he is said to have replied: “I can’t get it up.”
Charlotte told him ‘this constitutes sexual harassment – I suggest you hang up the phone’. The call ended.
But Charlotte wasn’t alone. A small band of ‘weak and cowardly’ young male medical students are said to be terrorising female counterparts at the University of Manchester’s renowned school of medicine.
Alleged abuse appears to have taken the form of anonymous late-night phone calls to the mobiles of unsuspecting young women who are forced to listen to upsetting sexual slurs and abuse often accompanied by the laughter of the tormentors, who seem to think it’s acceptable banter or even sport.
It’s all the more shocking as the male students believed to be responsible are well on the road to becoming doctors, trusted to treat patients. Half of these will be women seeking help during what may well be the most vulnerable time of their lives.
But, thanks to the bravery of one of the women who has stepped forward to lead a campaigning for justice, the university has launched a major investigation into these ‘deeply concerning’ allegations.
That woman is Charlotte Buttercase who has waived her right to anonymity to expose what’s happening and speak to the Manchester Evening News.
The 24-year-old is among a group of female medical students who alleged they have been sexually harassed by male colleagues, often in distressing late-night calls where the principal tormentor appears to be with a band of other young men who are sniggering in the background as the alleged abuse is delivered.
These upsetting calls are said to have started from at least 2023 and affected a number of year groups, revealing what appears to be a pattern of misogyny which the protagonists no doubt dismiss as banter.
Charlotte has bravely waived her right to anonymity and is now fronting a campaign on behalf of the female students affected, prompting the university to launch an investigation.
For Charlotte, she was at her digs in Hulme in April this year when she was woken by the 2am call. She answered, thinking it could be a fellow student, a friend or loved one in distress.
Phone numbers for Charlotte and other students are easily obtained as they are shared on a range of large medical school WhatsApp groups.
“It was very distressing, I think particularly in the context of being alone in a dark room with four men essentially taunting me with sexually explicit comments. It was incredibly demeaning,” Charlotte told the Manchester Evening News.
“When I woke up the next morning, I felt incredibly nervous to enter into my hospital. I felt genuinely frightened of who it was who would have done that to me, making a sport of sexual harassment even though they were my own colleagues. I found it all very distressing.”
Within hours, Charlotte had lodged formal complaints with university bosses and Greater Manchester Police and, through talking to others, soon realised she was far from the only young female medical school student at the university to have suffered unwanted late-night phone calls.
A week later, she had written and published an open letter to the vice chancellor of the university Professor Duncan Ivison, which referred to 15 young women who all said they have been targeted. That number, according to Charlotte, has now swelled to 32.
One of them, who we are not naming as they are entitled to anonymity, told the Manchester Evening News she was in her second year as a medic when she received and answered a call at 1am from an anonymous caller.
She said the male caller greeted her silence with a comment that she was ‘more talkative’ when they had met the previous day. She said he asked her to make ‘sexual noises’ and he claimed she had done so when they had met previously.
She received a number of ‘no caller ID’ calls in her second year but didn’t answer apart from one occasion when she said the caller said she was ‘pretty’.
The student told the M.E.N.: “Frustrated and upset, I responded by telling him to leave me alone. The caller then became aggressive, swearing at me, calling me a ‘bitch’ and telling me to kill myself before I ended the call.
“During both calls, I could hear what sounded like multiple voices or background mumbling, which led me to believe this may involve a group of individuals rather than a single caller.
“After speaking with other students, I discovered that many girls at the university have experienced similar calls, with some receiving at least one missed or unanswered call. Given that many do not answer unknown numbers, I believe the number of affected students is likely far higher than reported.”
She continued: “I am sharing my experience in the hope that it contributes to raising awareness and encourages further investigation into what appears to be a wider issue affecting female students.”
It is understood GMP considered this and Charlotte’s cases and decided no crimes were identified. They hope the force will reconsider as more cases become known.
In her open letter to Prof Ivison, now signed by more than a thousand people, Charlotte wrote: “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.”
She continued: “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 university has now agreed to her demand for an investigation.
In a statement, Professor Ashley Blom, Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, said: “The issues raised are deeply concerning, and we are treating them with the utmost seriousness. No member of our community should ever experience behaviour that makes them feel unsafe, intimidated or harassed.
“Our immediate priority is supporting the students affected. We have launched a formal investigation into the specific allegations raised, and we are also undertaking a wider review of the cultural and systemic issues identified.
“We will continue to take whatever action is necessary to address the issues identified and deliver meaningful, lasting change. We know that our students and colleagues must have confidence that concerns will be listened to, taken seriously and acted upon.
“I want to thank everyone who has come forward and shown courage in speaking up. I would strongly encourage anyone who has experienced or witnessed similar behaviour to report it so appropriate action can be taken.”
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