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Harassment is unacceptable. We are committed to eradicating harassment in all its forms, and in relation to the protected characteristics, including age, disability, sex, ethnicity, gender identity, faith and sexual orientation, and those who are targeted on the basis of multiple equality characteristics.

Our ‘Together Against Harassment’ project aims to tackle the challenges and barriers we face through a number of activities.

• We will increase confidence and trust that the University is tackling harassment, by improving transparency and accountability through sharing of information, such as the potential outcomes, sanctions and the number and nature of incidents of harassment.
• We will work with colleagues across the University to improve skills and knowledge to be able identify and address incidents of harassment and offer sources of support.
• We will challenge systemic barriers to tackling harassment by ensuring that there is pro-active leadership responsibility for a culture of anti-harassment. Our Vice-Chancellor is committed to tackling all form of harassment and has actively contributed to sector wide reports into harassment including the UK report on Tackling Racial Harassment in Higher Educations (2020).
• We will seek to increase awareness, to ensure that all in our community have the confidence, and necessary information and support, to make informed decisions to disclose incidents of harassment. Every member of our community will be empowered to be an active upstander, and to promote a culture of anti-harassment.

If you experience harassment, or other unacceptable behaviour, we want to hear about it. You can access support and disclose, anonymously if you prefer, at .

As a Â鶹ÊÓƵ student, if you feel that you’re being subjected to unacceptable behaviours, we encourage you to make a disclosure through our . You can do this anonymously or leave your contact details for us to get back to you.

Using Report and Support

You can , and find out more about support available to you.

Use the Report and Support reporting system to do one of the following:

• disclose behaviours you’ve experienced and leave your contact details for us to get back to you
• tell us anonymously.

Setting up a meeting with you

If you leave contact details, wherever possible someone will contact you within two working days to offer a confidential meeting with a trained case worker.

They will then:

• provide a safe space for you to talk about what you've experienced
• talk to you about the support available to you, both within the University and externally
• help you to explore your options, including informal resolution and more formal reporting
• provide information about relevant University policies and processes.

If you do not wish to meet with anyone, we can signpost you to further sources of support.

During the meeting

You can request to meet in person or online/over the phone. When you meet with a case worker, they will talk you through their role, what support they can offer and explain the parameters of confidentiality to you.

The meeting will go at your pace and the case worker will only ask for key information that will help support you.

After the meeting

After the meeting, you can choose to leave it there and do nothing, or to progress with one or more of the options outlined in the meeting.

It is acknowledged that talking to someone about your experiences can be difficult. Where possible we will look to uphold confidentiality, however circumstances that involve risk do require escalation. Where possible we would always try to consult you on potential actions.

As a member of staff at the Â鶹ÊÓƵ, if you feel you are being subjected to unacceptable behaviours, or see someone else being subjected to unacceptable behaviour, we encourage you to make a disclosure through our . You can do this anonymously or leave your contact details for us to get back to you.

Using Report and Support

You can , so we can help you find out about support available. 

Setting up a meeting with you

If you leave contact details, wherever possible someone will contact you within two working days to offer a confidential meeting with a trained Dignity and Respect contact. They will then:

• provide a safe space for you to talk about what you've experienced
• talk to you about the support available to you, both within the University and externally
• help you to explore your options, including informal resolution and more formal reporting
• provide information about relevant University policies and processes. 

If you do not want to meet with anyone, we can signpost you to further sources of support. 

Disclosing something that happened through Report and Support does not automatically lead to a formal report, or invoke a formal process.

After the meeting

After the meeting, you can choose whether to leave it there and do nothing further, or to progress with one or more of the options outlined in the meeting. 

None of the information you disclose will be shared with anyone else, unless you give consent to do so, or there is a safeguarding risk or if a criminal act is involved. In these cases you would be consulted about potential actions.

Harassment is

"unwanted conduct, relating to a protected characteristic, which has the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity, or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment." (Equality Act 2010).

Harassment can be face to face, or online. Some examples might include racial harassment, sexual harassment, transphobia, harassment relating to a disability, homophobia, Islamophobia, antisemitism, and may look like:

• Jokes or demeaning, abusive comments targeting someone in relation to a protected characteristic;
• Verbal or written insults or ridicule, displaying or circulating offensive material;
• Unwelcome sexual advances, lewd comments.