More students come forward with harassment claims

More women studying medicine at the University of Manchester have come forward to say they have received threatening and sexually harassing late-night phone calls.

On Monday the BBC revealed that at least 30 students in the School of Medical Sciences had been targeted anonymously over the phone by men "screaming gender-based slurs" and other abuse.

Now another student has said she was told to take her own life by a caller who had hurled abuse at her in a "frightening experience".

Of the cases so far taken to Greater Manchester Police (GMP), none has passed the threshold for a criminal investigation.

The force confirmed it had been looking into several reports of harassment and malicious communications after more than 1,000 people signed an open letter describing a culture of sexual harassment at the medical school.

A formal investigation into the allegations has been launched by the university, which said it was also undertaking a wider review of the cultural and systemic issues identified.

The British Medical Association, which represents medical students, described the calls as "deplorable".

The student who came forward after the BBC's report on Monday did not wish to be identified.

She said she had received successive late-night calls over a couple of years, and had answered twice.

On the first occasion, a male caller made sexually inappropriate comments to her, she said, while on the second she told the man on the phone to leave her alone.

She said: "I just got really angry and told him to leave me alone and get a life, but he started getting aggressive and told me to kill myself.

"It just makes you feel really small, it makes you feel a bit worthless, it's just really hard to describe it because I think a lot of people assume it's just a phone call, no-one is doing it to you physically or to your face.

"But I think what just makes it even worse is that there's a coward behind the phone, too scared to tell me his name or show me his face."

The student told the BBC she wanted to know who was behind the calls and ensure they were "held accountable for it".

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.