Student Harassment and Sexual Misconduct

Harassment also includes:

• Incidents of physical violence towards a person due to a protected characteristic
• Hate crimes perceived to be motivated by prejudice or hostility
• Stalking, domestic abuse and violence (which involves coercion, control, and/or threats)

What is sexual misconduct?

Sexual misconduct relates to all unwanted conduct of a sexual nature. This includes but is not limited to:

• Sexual harassment
• Unwanted physical sexual advances
• Assault and/or rape
• Intimidation, or promising resources or benefits in return for sexual favours
• Distributing personal and private explicit images or video footage of an individual without their explicit consent

In addressing instances of harassment and sexual misconduct, the College follows its established procedures for investigation and disciplinary matters as per the appropriate policies.

• Prevention of Student Harassment and Sexual Misconduct Policy
• Staff Code of Conduct
• Student Charter
• Safeguarding Policy and Procedures
• Peer on Peer Abuse Policy and Procedures
• Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Policy
• Zero Tolerance Policy
• Staff Disciplinary Policy and Procedures
• Student Behaviour Policy and Procedures
• Staff-Student Relationships

In order to maintain professional relationships with students, the College prohibits intimate personal relationships between staff and students, with the exception of pre-existing consensual relationships where the student is over 18, which must be declared to the staff member’s line manager, Executive Director of People Services and Organisational Development and any conflict of interest reported to relevant assessment board(s), as appropriate.

Examples of permitted relationships are:

• consensual and intimate relationships established before the staff member became a member of staff at the College,
• or between the staff member and the student before they became a student at the College and where the student was over 16 at the time.

Students may also choose to disclose an issue or incident to a staff member, who will then have a duty to report the issue to the relevant internal support services as per the College policy. Whether students choose to report online or directly to a member of staff, the information is collected sensitively and treated with appropriate confidentiality.

These procedures should not stop or delay any report to the police. To report a crime in an emergency dial 999, for the reporting of non-emergency incidents dial 101 or report anonymously via Crime Stoppers 0800 555 111.

When a student reports an incident relating to harassment and/or sexual misconduct, the College has not, and will not, impose any non-disclosure restrictions upon them. We do, however, encourage students to access appropriate support regarding any incidents (see Section 5. Getting Support).

Exemptions to training

The College is committed to providing a safe and inclusive environment that helps to promote wellbeing and success regardless of background. We believe that acts of sexual misconduct and violence are unacceptable.

It is important that all of our students have awareness and training around harassment and misconduct, however, we recognise that personal circumstances may mean engaging with this subject matter is particularly difficult for certain students due to their own previous experiences. Students can contact Student Services or their Course Manager to express their preference to be exempt from this training and to ensure they are accessing appropriate support.

We support students:

• Regardless of whether the incident has happened on or off campus
• Whether they wish to take informal or formal action, or no action at all
• To report to the Police if they wish
• To link in with other expert assistance (such as the local Sexual Assault Referral Centre)
• With their studies: Support is provided to ensure the continued academic engagement of any student involved in an investigation, or similar process, where a student wishes to continue studying. Academic and/or assessment arrangements may be changed as appropriate during such a process in line with the relevant Mitigating Circumstances policies.