Freshers ‘not aware’ of sexual harassment reporting procedures at university, says NUS study

NUS women's officer says it is 'extremely worrying' that students have experienced harassment in their first term at university

(PA)

Two thirds of first year students do not know how to report sexual harassment at their university, according to a study by the National Union of Students (NUS).

More than 60 per cent of students said that they were not made aware of any codes of conduct implemented by their university, with a further 29 per cent unsure of such procedures.

Harassment has been at the forefront of debate among students, who are said to often experience unwanted sexual comments or behaviour during their time in higher education.

NUS President, Toni Pearce, recently called on UK universities to acknowledge the problem among its own campuses and to take the relevant steps to ensure students were aware of how to report instances of unwanted verbal and physical harassment.

The survey reveals the most common forms of harassment were unwelcome comments regarding people’s bodies, heckling and ‘rape jokes’ in and around campus, with one case even detailing students being wolf-whistled as they entered lectures.

Most incidents occurred at social events, with 59 per cent reporting they happened at night clubs. However, 33 per cent of men and women stated they experienced harassment at halls of residences.

The statistics highlight a concern among students who fear they would not be taken seriously if they reported an incident. 12 per cent expressed a lack of trust in university procedures dealing with sexual harassment, whereas 66 per cent had stated they simply did not know how to report such incidents.

Susuana Amoah, NUS women’s officer, described the reporting system for sexual harassment as ‘either lacking or not visible to students in a lot of cases’, adding: “It’s extremely worrying, but not surprising, that so many students in their first term of university have experienced sexual harassment or seen it happen to somebody else.”

Watch King's College London's 'It Stops Here' campaign:

NUS is working with nine other student unions in order to ensure that institutions audit their own processes to make sure students feel safe and that their concerns are important.

Recent steps taken by universities to combat these issues include the ‘It Stops Here’ campaign by King’s College London and Exeter University’s online #NeverOk initiative.

Gary Loke, head of policy for the Equality Challenge Unit, has said universities should focus on ways to tackle these issues which include ‘consent workshops for new students and zero tolerance campaigns that staff and students on campus are encouraged to sign-up to’ while highlighting the need for institutions to ‘share good practice and examples’ with each other.