Posted on Fri 18 Sep 2015 at 14:26 by
Matthew Humberstone
New Way to Report Incidents of Haraasment, Bullying or Discrimination
Today sees the launch of a new page on Bathstudent, Report An Incident, which includes a short form for anyone that experiences an incident of harassment, bullying or discrimination. Unfortunately, at all universities and in society in general, incidents like this can occur. However, here at Bath we are committed to both preventing incidents occuring and supporting those that have been harassed, bullied or discriminated against.
One of last year's Top Ten issues was to 'Engage students to secure a university free from harassment, bullying and discrimination' and this was one of the key recommendations made to help achieve this important goal. Whilst there's still more we can and will do, we're taking important steps to make sure that everyone feels welcome and included as well as helping make it clear to students where to go if incidents occur.
In addition to this, we've made sure that all our Freshers' Week volunteers are receiving equality and diversity training, empowering them to make sure everyone feels included and safe during their first week at university. Recent changes to the Inclusivity Award will hopefully lead to student groups also making sure their activities can be enjoyed by everyone.
What's Consent?
Sexual consent means a person willingly agrees to have sex or engage in a sexual activity and they are free and able to make their own decision. You can test your knowledge with this quick quiz!
What's Harassment?
Harassment is unwanted groping, pinching, smacking and physical contact as well as wolf whistling, cat calling, inappropriate sexual comments, sexually based insults, jokes, songs or taunts.
What's Discrimination?
There are a number of 'protected characteristics' including age, disability, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation and trans status, which are protected by law. Discrimination can involve direct discrimination (treating someone with a protected characteristic less fairly), indirect discrimination (putting arrangements in place that put someone with a protected characteristic at an unfair disadvantage) and victimisation (treating someone unfairly because they have complained about discrimination or harassment).
What's Bullying?
Bullying includes abuse of power or authority; verbal, written or physical intimidation; persistent unjustified criticism; public humiliation; setting impossible deadlines and unwarranted exclusions.