Procedures for Responding to Personal Harassment or Sexual Misconduct

This section applies to all students, staff and visitors to the College (which includes patients and clients, and guest lecturers).

From time to time students or staff may feel that they are being subjected to a form of personal harassment or sexual misconduct. Any behaviour which shows lack of respect and which creates an atmosphere in which people feel uncomfortable and/or unwelcome can constitute harassment or sexual misconduct. This can occur through any medium, including online. Whilst it is true that differences of attitude and culture or misinterpretation of social signals can mean that what is perceived as harassment or sexual misconduct by one person may not seem so to another, what matters is the individual's experience of discomfort, offence or intimidation. Any incidents of harassment or sexual misconduct will be regarded extremely seriously by the College. While efforts may be made to resolve such problems informally, such incidents can also be grounds for disciplinary action that may lead to probation, suspension or exclusion. On practitioner training courses our preparation of students for clinical skills classes and clinical practice includes teaching and learning in relation to areas such as respectful behaviour and what constitutes inappropriate touching.

People who are being harassed or subject to sexual misconduct often feel isolated or stressed and this can affect their work or studies. It is therefore important to seek help if you feel you are being harassed or subjected to sexual misconduct. Do not feel that it is your fault or that you have to tolerate it.

Harassment

Personal harassment takes many forms. Any behaviour which shows lack of respect and which creates an atmosphere in which people feel uncomfortable and/or unwelcome can constitute harassment. Basically, harassment is any behaviour that is unacceptable to the recipient and creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment - for work, study or socialising. This can be particularly serious if the harasser is in a position of organisational power in relation to the person harassed.

Harassment can happen to anyone but it may particularly occur because of, or connected to, a person having protected characteristics. As defined in Section 26 of the Equality Act 2010, harassment includes unwanted behaviour or conduct which has the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment because of, or connected to, one or more of the following protected characteristics:

  • age
  • disability
  • gender reassignment
  • race
  • religion or belief
  • sex
  • sexual orientation

We also understand harassment to include domestic violence and abuse (which can also involve control, coercion and threats) and stalking.

We would also consider harassment to include any incidents of physical violence towards another person(s) on the basis of a protected characteristic and hate crimes, such as those criminal offences, which are perceived by the victim or any other person to be motivated by hostility or prejudice, based on a person's disability or perceived disability; race or perceived race; or religion or perceived religion; or sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation or transgender identity or perceived transgender identity.

Sexual Misconduct

Sexual misconduct relates to all unwanted conduct of a sexual nature. This includes, but is not limited to:

  • Sexual harassment (as defined by Section 26 (2) of the Equality Act 2010)
  • Unwanted conduct which creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment (as defined by the Equality Act 2010)
  • Assault (as defined by the Sexual Offences Act 2003)
  • Rape (as defined by the Sexual Offences Act 2003)
  • Physical unwanted sexual advances (as set out by the Equality and Human Rights Commission: Sexual harassment and the law, 2017)
  • Intimidation, or promising resources or benefits in return for sexual favours (as set out by the Equality and Human Rights Commission: Sexual harassment and the law, 2017)
  • Distributing private and personal explicit images or video footage of an individual without their consent (as defined by the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015).

What to do if you feel you’re being harassed or subjected to sexual misconduct, or if you witness any incident of harassment or sexual misconduct

If at all possible, make it clear to the person causing offence that such behaviour is unacceptable to you.

If you feel unable to confront the person directly, or if talking to them has no effect, either:

  • Talk the problem through with a friend
  • Talk it through in confidence with your personal tutor
  • Seek a confidential interview with one of the Contact Persons

Your tutor, or a Contact Person detailed below, will discuss any matter with you in strictest confidence. If they need to consult in order to decide the best way to help you, this will be done in confidence and without identifying you. Your tutor or Contact Person will listen carefully to you, then inform you about choices of action, and help you decide what, if anything, you wish to do or have done about the harassment or sexual misconduct.

Normally we will encourage and support you to take action, and this will happen by us following the disciplinary procedures for students (in the College Handbook) or for staff (in the Staff Handbook). These procedures include early stages which focus on informal resolution, and include procedures for holding an investigation by a panel. They also allow us to start the procedures immediately at the later formal stages in particularly serious cases.

Student representatives or other third parties will also be encouraged and supported to take action via the disciplinary procedures.

If an investigation concludes an incident or incidents of harassment or sexual misconduct have occurred, outcomes for students include probation with conditions and a review, suspension from studies with conditions and the option of a review, and exclusion of the student from the College. Outcomes for employed staff include a written warning, a final written warning, dismissal with notice and dismissal without notice. Outcomes for self-employed staff and guest lecturers include a written warning, a final written warning, and withdrawal of contract. For patients and clients outcomes include a written warning, a final written warning, and withdrawal of our services.

Our disciplinary procedures include the provision of support for all parties throughout the process

If you just want someone to talk to, without wanting any action to be taken, that's fine too. Your tutor or Contact Person will be ready to listen. You are also welcome to use our counselling service (see the Student Support section of the College Handbook for details, or ask the College Manager).

It is possible to report a concern about harassment or sexual misconduct anonymously. This may helpfully alert us to an issue we should investigate and address, particularly if we have received other similar reports. However, we may be limited in our ability to fully investigate an anonymous report, and to communicate any outcome.

In some cases and if required and requested, we will signpost or refer students to the NHS, sexual assault referral centres or hate crime reporting centres, or to local specialist services such as Rape Crisis, if specialist support is needed.

Disciplinary issues involving harassment or sexual misconduct may also constitute a criminal offence[1]. If there is any possibility that this is the case, the Principal or their nominee will consult with and support the student (or staff member) affected in order for them to make a decision as to whether to make a report to the police. If a process of criminal investigation commences, then apart from taking any necessary precautionary action[2] the College’s internal process will be suspended until the criminal process is complete. Once the criminal process is complete the College will consider whether a disciplinary offence has been committed and if so will instigate the disciplinary procedures.

If you experience harassment or sexual misconduct outside of College

Students or staff who have experienced harassment or sexual misconduct in their life outside College can also access support from the College. Students in this situation can call on any aspect of our student support provision (please note, our staff are not trained counsellors); they can access our counselling service, seek extensions on assessment submission dates, and/or a request a period of interruption to studies. Staff can talk to their line manager or any member of staff they feel able to trust, can access our counselling service, and can request any other support, including a period of compassionate leave.

 

Details and further information on a few organisations that offer trained support can be found via the links below:

Rape Crisis: https://rapecrisis.org.uk/

24/7 Rape and sexual abuse support: https://247sexualabusesupport.org.uk/

Male Survivors: https://malesurvivor.co.uk/

 

Revised version adopted by Board of Directors/Trustees 30/06/22. Next review June 2025. Reviewed every three years by Academic Board and by the Policy Review Committee reporting to the Board of Directors/Trustees.

 

[1] For further and important guidance on this, staff should consult the guidance prepared by Pinsent Masons for Universities UK, which is available here: guidance-for-higher-education-institutions.pdf (universitiesuk.ac.uk). There is also a copy on the Staff Hub on SharePoint, in College Services/Policies and Procedures/Harassment and Sexual Misconduct.

[2] Precautionary measures are not a penalty or sanction and do not indicate any presumption of guilt. They may include imposing conditions on contact between individuals, temporary suspension of studies or temporary exclusion from specific areas.

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