Universities urged to join misconduct disclosure scheme

Because most universities keep the findings of misconduct investigations confidential, sexual-harassment perpetrators are often able to move to other institutions without having to disclose why they left their old jobs. Now, a think tank is urging United Kingdom universities to join an information-sharing scheme that could make old misdeeds harder to hide, writes Sarah Wild for Nature.

The organisation, called the 1752 Group, is a network of UK-based academics that studies and campaigns against sexual misconduct. In a statement issued in late January, it called on universities to join the Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. This would make it more difficult for harassers to move to different universities without disclosing their misconduct findings, the group wrote.

“We’ve been struggling with this issue of pass-the-perpetrator,” explains Anna Bull, a sociologist at the University of York who is director of research at the 1752 Group. “It’s a long-standing issue,” she says.
Full report on the Nature site