In 2016, Goldsmiths began to address the complicit cultures within Higher Education around sexual violence, and launched a large-scale effort to address these cultures on our own campus. It became important to acknowledge that major issues around sexual violence, sexual harassment, and sexual misconduct are pervasive throughout society, and that educational institutions like our own are not immune to these issues. Over the course of the year, we worked with the College to develop a formal policy that recognises the institution’s duty of care towards all of its members to prevent and respond to these issues.

Sexual violence, sexual harassment, domestic violence, stalking, and sexual misconduct are never okay. We worked with the College to develop a tool so that students, staff, and visitors to our campus can report something either anonymously or with contact details so you will get a response. Reports can be about an individual, a group of people, or campus cultures. Click here to visit the Report and Support website.

 

As part of our Against Sexual Violence Campaign at the SU, we want to collect your honest experiences of using this tool. We’ll then use this data to compile a report with the aim of working with the University to improve the tool to better suit your needs. Fill in our Report and Support survey here.

 

Why are we conducting this review? 

Here are a couple of things that have come to our attention and think you should know if you are considering using Report & Support:

• If you report anonymously and name a perpetrator, the perpetrator can be notified
• If you report with contact details and name a perpetrator, the perpetrator can be notified and read your statement later on in the process

We have questions about the transparency and confidentiality of the overall Report & Support process. This summer, we are collecting student experiences and demanding some answers from the University. Some of our questions include:

• Who reads the reports? What is the process? What is done with the information?
• How, where and for how long is the data stored?
• Each year, Report & Support should be publishing an annual statistical report. Where are the reports and how can the Goldsmiths community access them?

You don’t need to be a current student at Goldsmiths to complete this survey. Perhaps you’re alumni, staff or someone who witnessed/experienced sexual violence in connection to Goldsmiths. If so, we want to hear from you. Similarly, if you haven't used the tool, we want to hear from you too!

All submissions will be kept anonymous and if we want to use any of your text, we will email and ask for your permission first.

Of course, we acknowledge it can be really difficult and traumatic to relieve experiences connected to sexual harassment and violence, so please prioritise your mental health and practice self care. There is no time limit on this survey and you can leave at any time. 

If you have any questions or would like to get involved, email bystander@goldsmithssu.org.

 

 

As part of the campaign, we’re offering training for students to become Active Bystanders, helping to build a community of responsibility and care for one another on campus. Sign up for a free, two-and-a-half hour training session to become an Active Bystander, and learn how to safely act on all types of harassment. Click here to see when the next Active Bystander training sessions are taking place.