As your elected student representatives, we were recently invited to be involved in a University review of sexual misconduct procedures.  In order to make sure we understood the issues, we spoke to a number of students who had experienced sexual misconduct or assault while studying here, and who could talk to us about their experiences of disclosing and reporting to the University.  We are so grateful to those we spoke to, as well as to other women’s groups and campaigners who helped us with our fact-finding.  Sexual harassment and violence is completely unacceptable and we know that as well as tackling rape culture and ‘banter’ on our campus, we need to ensure that victims are supported in the most caring and effective way possible. 

The following is a set of recommendations we have made to the University as a result of our work, and we have full confidence that they will be implemented soon.  As always, we will keep you updated but if you have any comments or questions, please do get in touch.

1.       Develop a distinct and updated policy for Sexual Misconduct.

The priority should be clarity and accessibility so that students can easily see the process from disclosure and reporting through to investigation and conclusion in user friendly language. There should also be potential sanctions/ consequences listed within the procedure to reinforce the severity of the misconduct.

2.       Case work and communication

The SU believes that students who disclose a sexual assault or other form of misconduct should be allocated a caseworker with training in this area who can act as the single point of communication for the student.  Regardless of the staff subsequently involved in investigating the case, no student should have to be contacting multiple staff members for updates.  We advocate for a model where designated liaison officers or advocates ensure students are adequately supported and kept informed.

Asking staff in schools to investigate serious sexual misconduct cases in the same way they investigate other academic disciplinary matters is outdated and unfair.  Trained staff should be responsible for such cases and support students and staff accordingly.  Where cases involve police involvement, there is a need for the student to be kept regularly updated on the University’s role – even if that is on pause for the duration of a criminal investigation.  Support for students by trained staff in this situation is critical.

3.       Staff training

It would be unrealistic to expect all University staff members to be trained to deal in depth with sexual misconduct disclosures and associated issues.  However, there is evidently a lack of clarity for staff on how they should support students in this instance and who takes ‘ownership’ of any formal processes.  While it is great that staff generally refer students to the support services for counselling/ wellbeing support, it then becomes unclear to the student whether or not their disclosure has been formally reported.  Ensuring that formal reporting is discussed with a student at an appropriate stage of their disclosure is critical in ensuring action is taken.

The SU believes that all University staff should complete training in appropriate support for disclosures which includes understanding of the processes and/or how to refer to a designated liaison officer (see above).  In addition the SU does not believe it is fair to expect academic colleagues to investigate sensitive cases where they have no specialist training or experience. 

4.       Our partners

The University works so closely with some partners that the distinction between them becomes unclear to students.  This is not always a problem and can help students feel part of a positive and connected student life.  However, the separation of processes for issues like sexual misconduct can cause barriers for students in disclosure and also in communication.  For example CLV are considered the University’s accommodation suppliers and yet they operate a wholly separate and distinct disciplinary procedure for their tenants.    Similar issues could occur with other partners (including the SU itself) so we recommend that a shared set of procedures is agreed by all critical partners to reduce confusion and distress to students.

Other partnership arrangements should also be assessed for their robustness in dealing with disclosures and reports from our students.  Due diligence activity should be undertaken on partners like placement providers or contractors working on-site to ensure that their processes are satisfactory and robust.

5.       Data protection and communication

The SU recommends that the University (in liaison with other agencies including the police) reaches a clear understanding of what can and can not be shared with students who have alleged sexual misconduct.  It is clear that in some criminal cases there will be necessary limits on what information can be shared, but students expect and deserve to understand how a case has been concluded by the University.  This is especially important if both students involved in a case are likely to come into contact with each other again.

6.       Culture and behaviour expectation

Addressing the points above will improve the experiences of students who have been the victim of sexual misconduct but more is needed in order to affect positive cultural change among the University community and to regularly remind students of their responsibilities and acceptable standards of behaviour.  The SU makes the following recommendations:

a.       Code of conduct/ Student charter

A revised community behaviour document is promoted throughout the year and referenced in both academic and social spaces on campus/ online. Agreed behaviours around respect and consent.

b.       Welcome

Inviting support from external providers/ charities to ensure specific information and guidance is embedded during Welcome and Induction activity.  This needs to be built into content and not seen as an ‘add-on’ but as a critical part of building our university community together.  There are organisations (e.g. https://www.beyondequality.org/ who have been working on this for a number of years) we could work with to develop resources. 

c.       Ongoing reminders

Ensuring that in addition to Welcome, there are regular reminders about expected behaviours built into academic activity and delivered in an engaging fashion.  This should also include guidance on how to support friends/ peers, bystander intervention and how to access support services.

d.       Targeted activity

It is likely that targeting messaging at specific groups will help personalise our interventions.  E.g. students living in on-campus accommodation, students who are involved in sports groups, student customers to the SU bar and events etc.

e.       Staff equivalents

Activity as above should be considered for University staff members to ensure that the whole community is aware and up to date on expected behaviours.

7. Inclusion

All changes made to this area of work should involve a full equality impact assessment to determine how the experiences of particular students may be disproportionately affected.

Shian and the 20/21 Officer team