RIYADH — A study by Imam Muhammad Bin Saud University’s media college for women has revealed that 87 percent of female students have complained of being abused by university faculty staff.

Sixty-two percent said they were facing academic problems.

Ninety-three percent supported forming a student union or expanding the role of the students council.

Some 19 percent of the students said they are facing financial problems, 9 percent were facing social problems, while 80 percent said they were unaware of the “Aali” satellite channel that the Ministry of Higher Education has launched to educate students on their duties and rights.

The study showed 63 percent of students believe the university’s laws and regulations limit their freedom of expression.

Some 83 percent said they prefer to complain to the university management and 17 percent said they prefer to voice their complains through social media.

However, 71 percent of the students support uploading complaints to social networking sites and 18 percent believed they could complain to the National Society for Human Rights. The study also showed that 57 percent of students on scholarships said they obtained information about their duties and rights from the universities they go to, 16 percent said they obtained the information from the cultural attaché and only 9 percent said they obtained the information from the Ministry of Higher Education.

The study recommended students should be trusted more and allowed to form student bodies and councils to discuss their problems and educate themselves of their rights and duties.