Disclose and report sexual violence, misconduct and harassment

The University will provide support to any student who discloses an incident regardless of whether they choose to make a formal report or complaint regarding the incident to the University or police.

Students may disclose to any member of the University community but the easiest way to access support is via our on-line portal, Report and Support.

Support will be provided from a team of trained Sexual Violence Liaison Officers (SVLO), who will also provide information about specialist services within and outside of the University.

Both the student disclosing the incident (the reporting student or party) and the alleged perpetrator (if a University student or member of staff) will each have a member of staff allocated to them to offer welfare and pastoral support, although the support offered will normally come from different teams. In such cases: 

• The University will ensure that this support is provided by different members of staff. Staff in these roles are specially trained to support either party during or after an investigation. 
• The reporting party will also be supported in a referral to external specialist support if requested/appropriate. 
• The reporting party and alleged perpetrator may also be signposted to the Students’ Union Advice Service to access impartial and confidential advice.

Sexual violence, misconduct, and harassment covers a broad range of inappropriate, unwanted behaviour.

It is defined as any unwanted conduct of a sexual nature which occurred in person, or by telephone, letter, text, email or other electronic and/or social media.

It includes: 

• engaging, or attempting to engage, in a sexual act with an individual without their consent.
• sexually touching another person without their consent.
• conduct of a sexual nature which creates or could create an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment for others including making unwanted remarks of a sexual nature.
• recording and/or sharing intimate images or recordings of another person without their consent.
• arranging or participating in events which may reasonably be assumed to cause degradation and humiliation, for example inappropriate social/sporting initiations.

Anybody may be subject to sexual violence including those involved in sex work.

To give consent an individual needs to have the freedom and capacity to make the choice as to whether to take part in sexual activity at the time in question.

Consent can be considered in two stages: 

• Whether an individual had the capacity (which is to say the age and understanding) to make a choice about whether to take part in the sexual activity at the time in question. 
• Whether the individual was in a position to make that choice freely, and was not constrained in any way, something particularly relevant when a complainant is intoxicated by alcohol or affected by drugs. 

Assuming that the individual had both the freedom and capacity to consent, the crucial question is whether the complainant agrees to the activity by choice.

Disclosure and reporting are separate actions that the reporting party may choose to take.

Following a disclosure the reporting party will normally be contacted within 24 working hours by one of our trained SVLOs. The SVLO will provide support and information about the various sources of support available, both within and outside of the University, and will provide any help necessary to access specialist services.

Information will also be given about the options for formally reporting the incident, either to make a complaint through the University, or externally to the Police. SVLO support will be provided whether or not a decision is made to make a formal complaint or report; the University recognises that some reporting students may decide not to report, or some might require time to make a decision as to whether they wish to make a report.

The types of incidents a student may wish to disclose /report on may include incidents where the alleged perpetrator is:

• a fellow student.
• a member of the University staff.
• someone external to the University, for example a partner or former partner. 

If the reporting student makes an allegation of sexual violence or misconduct against another student (alleged perpetrator) this behaviour may be regarded as misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct. Any reporting student who wishes to make a complaint about the conduct of another student must use the Student Complaints Procedure. 

If the alleged perpetrator is a member of staff or a contractor, action can be taken by the University’s Human Resources department, as appropriate.

In cases of emergency, where a sexual assault has just taken place and the alleged perpetrator still poses an immediate risk of harm, the reporting student should ring University Security on 0161 247 2222, if on campus, and report the incident and ask them to call the police. If off campus, call 999. 

Any student reporting an incident of sexual violence or misconduct to the University will be supported in assessing their options and choosing the course of action most appropriate to them.

The University cannot report an incident to the police on behalf of a student unless there is an immediate and serious risk to the safety of others. 

If the reporting student decides to inform the police, or has already done so, and a criminal investigation or judicial proceedings are ongoing or are likely to commence, the University will not start an internal investigation or will suspend any ongoing investigation. However the University will continue to offer support.

Any decision by the police or Crown Prosecution Service to take no action over a criminal matter, or an acquittal at trial, does not preclude the University from taking action.

In all cases of reported sexual violence or misconduct the university will discharge its duty of care by establishing the extent of any breaches of its misconduct policies. A process of formal risk assessment will also be undertaken to consider the potential risks to the reporting student, other members of the University community, and the University itself.

The University will maintain a central record of incidents to ensure there is effective engagement in prevention and response initiatives.

Student Services will keep a record of all reports of sexual violence and misconduct involving students and/or staff, including anonymous ones, for monitoring purposes.