SEXISM is widespread at UK universities, a victim of boorish abuse from male students at a Glasgow University Union debating competition has said.

Rebecca Meredith, who said she suffered sexist heckling in the finals of a debate last week, said a survey of women students had shown the issue was not confined to one institution.

Cambridge University undergraduate Ms Meredith conducted the online survey with fellow debater Marlena Valles after her experience in Glasgow.

They received 200 responses from women saying they had experienced sexism.

"As an experienced speaker on the international debating circuit, I have fended off countless heckles from both men and women, but I have never experienced anything like the misogynistic insults hurled at me by a group of male students during the finals of the Glasgow debate," she said.

"Marlena and I were so alarmed by this experience that we decided to see if other female debaters had suffered similar abuse so we created an anonymous survey, asking women for their experiences of misogyny on the debate circuit.

"Sadly, this behaviour is not limited to one ugly debate with a renegade group of boorish students – what I have discovered is that this influence has spread across a generation of men – though, of course, not all of them.

"Hundreds of female students have been in touch in the past week, claiming to have experienced far worse treatment from their counterparts than me."

Ms Meredith said several respondents had written from Glasgow saying they had been called "whores" when trying to speak in debates.

Some said they had been told they had won their debating competitions because judges "wanted to have sex with them" – or that they should wear a short skirt to get ahead.

One woman said she had decided to quit debating after being told speakers wouldn't be able to concentrate on what she said "because they'd be too busy staring at her chest".

"We are building a picture indicating that, though many young men are hugely supportive of women, some display worrying misogyny," added Ms Meredith.

"Outside the world of debating there are also those who think nothing of posting on the internet terrifying and often violent threats towards women they have never met."

The scandal blew up last week after the two women were booed and subjected to cries of "shame woman" when they stood up to discuss a motion.

When Ms Valles approached one of the men involved, she alleges he shouted: "Get that woman out of my union".

Anton Muscatelli, University of Glasgow principal, said that if students had breached any code of conduct, disciplinary action would be taken.