Watchdog urges universities to do more to tackle sexual misconduct
UNIVERSITIES and colleges should take urgent action and do more to tackle sexual misconduct and harassment affecting students, a regulator has said.
The Office for Students (OfS) is calling on all providers to review their sexual misconduct and harassment policies, systems and procedures by the summer.
The call came after more than 80 British universities were named on a website where students have been anonymously sharing experiences of sexual harassment, abuse, assault and misogyny.
A number of the UK’s top institutions, including Oxford and Exeter, were mentioned more than 50 times on the Everyone’s Invited website – which has highlighted allegations of a “rape culture” in education settings.
England’s universities watchdog has published its “statement of expectations”, which outlines
the practical steps that institutions should be taking to tackle harassment and sexual misconduct on campus.
OfS chief executive Nicola Dandridge said: “We still see a lack of consistent and effective systems, policies and procedures across the sector. Students should feel confident reporting and disclosing incidents knowing that they will be listened to and their reports will be dealt with appropriately.”
The OfS said all institutions should have processes in place to allow students to report any incidents and work to minimise potential barriers to reporting.
Its statement added that training should be made available for all staff and students – to raise awareness of harassment and sexual misconduct – and providers should ensure that investigatory procedures are fair and that those involved get effective pastoral support.
The watchdog will consider connecting this statement of expectations directly to the registration conditions for universities and colleges in future.
The move came after Soma Sara, founder of the Everyone’s Invited website, said “rape culture” is in all universities.