The organisers of an exhibition showcasing the stories of survivors of child sexual abuse have reported the University of Glasgow to the Scottish Public Service Ombudsman.

The exhibition was launched last month but there was controversy when the university decided to move it to a side studio and apply a trigger warning.

That was despite a positive initial reaction and the university was accused of ‘silencing victims’, but it insisted it had followed a ‘trauma-informed approach’ to the situation.

Since then, there has been anger from organisers who remain unhappy about the situation with Lee Cooper in regular contact with the university over the decision.

In a statement last month, a university spokesperson said: “The university does not accept the suggestion that it has silenced the victims of child sexual abuse.

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“After concerns were raised about the content of the exhibition, a decision was made to move the displays into a studio which was still accessible to the public within the ARC building. 

“There was clear messaging at the door which informed people to be aware there were images and descriptions of child abuse in the exhibition which some people may have found distressing. 

“The university took a trauma-informed approach to the concerns raised out of a duty of care to our staff and to protect the welfare of all members of the community.”

Mr Cooper, who was behind the exhibition and had a lot of his own work included, felt the reaction of the university was poor.

He asked them to form a new independent panel with survivors on it to ensure similar situations don’t occur in the future but is yet to receive a response on that.

The Manchester-based photographer feels it was a disappointing response from the university, and they had no option but to take it further.

He’s now reported the situation to the Scottish Public Service Ombudsman, which is the final stage of complaints against public organisations in Scotland.

Mr Cooper said: “It’s a very poor response with no sign of an apology or self-reflection of their wrong actions, a disgusting stance to take. It also highlights their failures in planning.

"I just feel it’s really important to highlight a lot of people can see the wrongdoing in all of this on the University of Glasgow’s part, yet they doubled down and refused to issue a simple apology for the upset caused. It really is a deplorable stance to take.

“This is not a pedantic issue. It is in essence the battle CSA Survivors face in society at large. We bring awareness to an uncomfortable reality, but it’s a reality that we have to address. I’m not going to drop this issue and move on that until all avenues are exhausted.”

The case has also been taken on by MSP Paul Sweeney, while a student-led petition about the situation has been signed more than 700 times.

Mr Sweeney has written a letter to the university’s leadership and called the decision ‘deeply saddening’ and insisted survivors were being silenced for a second time after the abuse they had received.   

“Art is supposed to provoke emotions and open minds. From what I have heard, this exhibition did exactly that by displaying art related to the journey of survival from abuse. In doing so, this could inspire other survivors to fear less about the stigma surrounding childhood sexual abuse and break their silence.”

Lee Cooper, Carron Carson and Dr Douglas MarkLee Cooper, Carron Carson and Dr Douglas Mark (Image: Clare Henry)

He then goes on to state that many visitors felt the university’s decision ‘fed into the stigma of shame and secrecy’.

Carron Carson was also part of the exhibition and said: “It's not to horrify people, it's somebody's truth, it's somebody's experience, and that's just part of life. This is their truth.

"The whole point was to show that adult survivors don't just get to where they are and are all of a sudden functioning. Behind it all is real struggle.

“They're carrying a lot of pain by themselves because they don't disclose it. They don't tell anybody. They are silenced and there's horror in there. There's real pain.

“Some of the artwork is by children who are quite young and it's a storyboard, if you like, a narrative. Some of it is images, some of a story, other parts are actual paintings

“When it's a grown-up who has created work like this people think, ‘oh that's great, you're a grown-up, you're owning it’.

“When they realise that this is children, they don’t know what to do.

“Don't push it away in a corner. If a grown-up can't contain the horror of what's happened, how do you think that child's going to manage it?

“If they hold on to it, that's exactly what child abusers want. That's part of the grooming process. It's a tool. Child abusers put a straitjacket on children to silence them and society buckles it.”

The University of Glasgow were approached for comment but weren’t willing to add more to what they had previously said.