New Spaces: Safeguarding Students from Violence and Hate

The issue of sexual assault, harassment and violence on university campuses has been reported over recent years and months. In 2014 (building on a report from 2010), the National Union of Students issued a report “That’s what she said” which explored the impact of lad culture, sexism and harassment on campuses. In October 2016 Universities UK published their Taskforce Report “Changing the Culture” which examined the issues of violence against women, hate crime and harassment against students. Following the UUK’s Taskforce Report, HEFCE released £2.45 million from the Catalyst Fund to fund projects to address some of the issues which were identified in the UUK report. The UUK Report identified that Universities often did not have joined up policies and strategies for addressing issues of hate crime and sexual violence on campuses (p4). We decided that this was an issue which was significant and impacted the students at the University of Northampton and we were one of only 60 institutions across the country whose bid was accepted. ‘New Spaces: Safeguarding Students from Violence and Hate’ is a cross Faculty and collaborative project which has been created in partnership with outside organisations. The aims of the project are: • To develop existing and new institutional policies and strategies to support students in reporting harassment, sexual abuse, sexual violence and hate crime. • To develop a student led collaborative initiative to identify what currently happens when disclosures are made, what good practice exists and how existing practice can be enhanced. • To use the insights to produce a robust policy and training for staff for when disclosures take place. • To ensure that the frameworks and training packages developed are suitable for delivery at the university’s new urban campus. This presentation will therefore outline the aspects of the project and the significance of safe spaces/places as well as the potential impact that this project will have on both staff and students when disclosures of sexual violence and harassment are made.