on who they report to. In relation to this, the Taskforce highlighted that
universities should also ensure that their approach is in line with their
safeguarding policies and procedures to help protect students and staff.
89. The Taskforce also noted the important role that a university governing body
has to play in being accountable for institutional activities and responsible for
ensuring the promotion of equality and diversity throughout the institution. This
could involve analysing institutional data on reported incidents, assessing
institutional policies and procedures, and reviewing what steps an institution
has taken to address negative trends.
The Taskforce recommends that universities should:
-
take an institution-wide approach to addressing violence against women,
harassment and hate crime. (One way of adopting this institution-wide
approach to responding to incidents of sexual violence is to use the points set
out in chapter 5 of this report as a guide.)
-
provide their governing bodies with regular progress reports summarising
what progress has been made towards adopting a cross-institution approach.
Universities are also encouraged to provide regular reports to governors on
incidents of violence against women, harassment and hate crime
disaggregated by the category of the incident, including year-on-year trends
(where available) and a summary of what action the institution has taken to
address these trends. Further, this should include reporting on the resource
made available and used to support an effective cross-institution approach,
including any recommendations for additional resource.
-
carry out a regular impact assessment of their approach. This should include
exploring student perceptions of safety and the effectiveness of their
institution’s response and assess staff understanding of what to do in the event
that a student reports an incident to them.
-
involve their students’ union in developing, maintaining and reviewing all
elements of a cross-institution response.
PREVENTION OF INCIDENTS
Supporting students to be agents of change, fostering a positive
respectful culture via evidence-based, bystander initiatives
90. Many submissions to the Taskforce highlighted the benefits of encouraging and
empowering students to be agents of change.
91. The evidence highlighted that in order to be agents of change in a culture that
can be accepting of sexism or other negative behaviours, students and others
need to believe that this culture is inappropriate. This often requires attitude
change which is a gradual process. Students and others also need to feel
confident that they have the skills to deal safely and sensitively with lower-level
incidents and with situations where there may be immediate dangers posed to
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