� � � �
Raised awareness of domestic abuse within the student population An increased ability to safety plan Less repeat victimisation An increased percentage of the student population feeling safe
CASE STUDY 2: BRITISH UNIVERSITIES & COLLEGES SPORT:‘ TAKE A STAND’ CAMPAIGN
In December 2015, British Universities & Colleges Sport( BUCS) launched its‘# TakeAStand’ campaign, aiming to tackle anti-social behaviour and discrimination in sport and make the university sport experience as inclusive and accessible as possible.
Recognising that anti-social behaviour and discrimination takes different forms, BUCS identified eight themes of behaviour to tackle, and developed a guidance document with content focusing on each of these themes to support member universities’ activity. Collating existing policy and training programmes from across higher education is also enabling BUCS to showcase the breadth of positive activity institutions have implemented as they work towards making university sport more inclusive.
BUCS has established its women-focused‘ This BUCS Girl Can Week’ in recent years, and is also planning to run additional weeks of action alongside this. It has ambitions to develop an extensive ambassador programme to increase the profile of the # TakeAStand campaign beyond the higher education sector. BUCS will increasingly seek to work with national partners including Stonewall, Women in Sport and Sporting Equals to support member universities in tackling discrimination towards their students, and will continue to support their efforts to develop inclusive and accessible opportunities for all students to take part in sport and physical activity.
At BUCS Conference 2016, the University of York was awarded BUCS’‘ Take A Stand’ Award in the award’ s inaugural year. York’ s equal opportunities project was a fantastic embodiment of the‘# TakeAStand’ campaign, with the university’ s students’ union delivering a range of peer-to-peer training events led by the union’ s student liberation networks. These events educated student leaders about the barriers to participation their diverse student demographic face, and shared information about appropriate language and how they could make their club activity more inclusive. Now, with greater collaboration between club presidents and the union’ s part-time officers, York’ s campaign is seeing student sports clubs elect committee members directly responsible for championing the equal opportunities campaign and supporting members’ welfare throughout the 2016 – 17 academic year and beyond.
For more information, see http:// www. bucs. org. uk / athlete. asp? section = 18767 & sectionTitle =% 23TakeAStand
95