Reporting harassment and/or sexual misconduct

<p dir="ltr">If you are a disclosing student and you do not wish to make a formal report to the University that is fine. You may still seek support even if you do not wish to report. </p> <p dir="ltr">You can make an<a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeTpDNq0tR2MZZ-EZDrazZfjFTiDoEPkGVQhWbb1c-fcA-F8Q/viewform?usp=header" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> anonymous report</a> or someone receiving the disclosure can do so on your behalf, which allows trend monitoring by the University. If you wish you may still report the incident to the police even if you do not want to report to the University. the option to anonymously report is below.</p> <p dir="ltr">You may choose to make a formal report to the University if you wish using the other button below. </p> <p dir="ltr">You can choose to disclose information about an incident that happened recently or some time ago. You will be offered support regardless of when the incident occurred and who was involved, which could be someone connected or unconnected to the University. The member of staff receiving a disclosure<strong> will not</strong> make a named report or refer to another agency without your consent, unless there is a <strong>concern about safeguarding, </strong>such as a child or vulnerable adult being at risk of harm or neglect.</p> <p dir="ltr">The person receiving the disclosure will <strong>avoid </strong>asking specific questions about what happened and leave it to you as the reporting student to disclose only what you are comfortable with. Even a SVLO will not need to know exactly what happened, only that there was an incident of sexual misconduct. This avoids you having to go over the incident multiple times, potentially reliving the trauma, and also protects any investigation process should one follow.</p>

<p dir="ltr">You may choose to report externally and will be supported by us if you decide on this action. We will never tell you to report externally or internally but will provide the information.</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>It is the choice of the reporting student (complainant/victim) about whether to report the incident of harassment and/or sexual misconduct to the police</strong>. </p> <p dir="ltr">You may choose to report externally and will be supported by us if you decide on this action. We will never tell you to report externally or internally but will provide the information.</p> <p dir="ltr">We will not formally notify the police or any other agency of instances of harassment and / or sexual misconduct without your explicit consent, unless there are specific safeguarding concerns (see para 7.1 of the Harassment &amp; Sexual Misconduct Policy). </p> <p dir="ltr">Student Support and SVLO have contact with a specific Sexual Offences Liaison Officer within the local police force who may be contacted directly to speak with us and/or you if you consent, with no obligation to make a formal police report. The SVLO and/or a member of the Student Support team will support you throughout the process if you wish to follow this course of action. </p> <p dir="ltr">You may contact the police without informing us. If you report an incident to the police you will have the option to give consent for the police to inform us about the progress of the investigation, to avoid the need for you to update us yourself. The Head of Compliance &amp; Quality Systems (if not acting as SVLO) may be used as a conduit for the Police or alternatively the Student Support &amp; Wellbeing Manager may be contacted.</p> <p dir="ltr">If you report to the police you will be supported in doing so if you want support and we will work in partnership with the police.</p> <p dir="ltr">If we aware that a police investigation is ongoing, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor would, in discussion with other key staff depending on the case, assess whether any precautionary measures, such as suspension of the reported student or access to certain areas being restricted, be appropriate to protect students (both the reporting student and the reported student / staff member, as appropriate, as well as other students) and also to ensure the police response is not impeded. </p> <p dir="ltr">A decision by the police or more likely the Crown Prosecution Service, to take no further action in relation to a criminal matter does not preclude us from taking our own action nor does it mean that you have made a vexatious or malicious report. It simply means that the case has not met the threshold for a charge or a likely conviction and therefore is not in the public interest to proceed. This is the same if a case is acquitted at a trial. A not guilty verdict does not preclude us from taking our own action. </p> <p dir="ltr">However, we cannot make a determination on criminal guilt, and any internal investigation will be focused exclusively on whether a breach of the <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gM1qp52Kkdu3hnKV-Qf-4dsJcCI1re2n/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Student Code of Conduct</a> has occurred. The burden of proof in law (the Police/CPS) is much higher (beyond reasonable doubt) than that of the University - the internal process cannot be regarded as a substitute for a police investigation / criminal prosecution and will be judged on the balance of probabilities (if we think it is more likely than not that the misconduct occurred). </p> <p dir="ltr">If a student (or staff member) is convicted of a criminal offence or accepts a police caution in relation to the relevant misconduct the conviction/caution will be taken as conclusive evidence that the misconduct did take place and may be pursued as part of the relevant Disciplinary Procedure and investigation in the University. </p>