Vanita Sundaram (University of York, UK)

1. USVreact: Training staff to
respond to disclosures of sexual
violence.
University of York
Vanita Sundaram, Mary Cobbe�-Ondiek and
Annis Stead,
Department of Educa�on
http://usvreact.eu #USVreact

2. Rela�vely li�le research on sexual harassment and violence in higher
educa�on in the UK
Na�onal Union of Students: Hidden Marks (2010), Lad Culture and
Sexism survey (2014), Lad culture audit (2015)
- 1/7 women students have experienced serious physical or sexual assault
- 2/3 of students have witnessed sexual harassment or violence towards another
student
Phipps and Young: That’s What She Said (2012)
- Lad culture as a group or “pack” mentality residing in ac�vi�es such as sport and
heavy alcohol consump�on, and “banter” which was o�en sexist, misogynist and
homophobic’
Jackson and Sundaram: Staff perspec�ves on ‘lad culture’ in higher
educa�on (2014)
Na�onal context (research)

3. Policy context is increasingly suppor�ve of research in this
area, following Universi�es UK Taskforce on Violence
Against Women, Harassment and Hate Crime (2015)
Higher Educa�on Funding Council for England has
announced two rounds of funding to support ac�on-
projects on sexual violence and harassment, and online
harassment and hate crime
The 1752 Group: Na�onal lobbying and consultancy group
to tackle staff-student misconduct in higher educa�on
established – helped to expose prevalence of this in UK
universi�es
Na�onal context (policy)

4. University of York ‘Zero Tolerance’ survey conducted in 2013, found that 72% of
students had experienced sexual harassment while at University
York Student Think Tank survey in 2015 found that 52% of students and 31% of staff
had experienced sexual harassment (on and off campus)
City of York Council conducted a Student Health Needs Assessment in 2016/17 and
found that 10% of University of York students surveyed had experienced sexual
assault
Un�l now the University has not had a central system for receiving and colla�ng
disclosures
Pre-training interviews found that:
- there is a fairly prevalent percep�on that sexual harassment and violence are not
significant problems at York, specifically, or in higher educa�on more generally
- what cons�tutes sexual harassment is not consistently or accurately understood by
staff
- Misunderstandings of sexual harassment in turn influence percep�ons of
ins�tu�onal response, and impact on survivors
Local context

5. Understand sexual violence and the complexity of it
Relate sexual violence to cultural and social norms and why some
student groups might be more vulnerable
Understand the impact of sexual violence on survivors and different
ways in which disclosure might occur
Develop the skills to respond to disclosures in an empathe�c and
suppor�ve manner
Gain the knowledge to refer student to op�ons for further help if they
wish
Objec�ves of training

6. By experts in counselling and receiving disclosures of sexual violence (N=2) or
by experts in field of gender, sexuality and/or sexual violence (N=2)
Sustainability maximised by delivery through permanent staff e.g. counsellors
and senior managers at ins�tu�on, some of whom cascading training to own
staff
Training has been delivered to all or some staff within: senior managers group
(N=14) ; security staff (N=36); colleges staff (N=16); and students’ union staff
(N=14)
Managers in each department/service were selected through consulta�on and
they, in turn, decided whether training should be voluntary or compulsory for
their staff
All par�cipants were given clear advance no�ce and explana�ons on the day
that they could opt out of any ac�vity or leave the training at any �me
Training delivery

7. Evalua�on of the training:
49 par�cipants completed pre-training ques�onnaire
55 par�cipants completed post-training ques�onnaire
- Significant changes made in par�cipants’ understanding
and knowledge of sexual violence
- Knowledge about what cons�tutes sexual violence, myths
surrounding it and how to iden�fy it was a key outcome
- Understanding of response forms by survivors and how to
support survivors had increased
Evalua�on

8. As a result of the training, subsequent ac�ons for ins�tu�onal
culture change include…
Revised University sexual harassment and violence policy
Online repor�ng system for students
Consent and sexual violence web pages
Training for students through colleges, including consent
and respect talks and bystander interven�on
Ins�tu�onal changes