All Student Vote (Spring 2021)

Sexual Violence Prevention Training

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This Union Notes: This section should include any facts, figures or statements that you believe are relevant to the topic of your policy. Remember in this section clear and effective referencing is important.

1. There is no existing mandatory online education course for all Warwick students surrounding sexual violence or consent

2. At the march on the 29th November 2020, students chanted “Fuck the SU”. 1

3. 85% of women aged 18-24 have experienced unwanted sexual attention. 45% have experienced unwanted sexual touching. 2

4. 68% of female students have experienced sexual harassment on campus. 14% had experienced serious physical or sexual violence. 3

5. 54% of female students experience harassment on nights-out. 15% of male students did. 4

6. “misogynistic behaviour and sexual harassment are rife amongst university sports teams.” 5

7. 1 in 3 trans students have experienced harassment and bullying. 6

8. Stonewall found out that homophobic harassment is most commonly directed at 18-24 year olds. 7

9. NUS Black Students’ Campaign found 72% of female Muslim students have experienced verbal abuse and threatening behaviour.

10. Student Unions are essential for educating students about how university policies affect them, and what is expected of them. This needs to be communicated to them efficiently and REGULARLY. 8

11. Absence of clear and robust reporting structure is a problem sector-wide. 9

12. The University of Oxford has developed an app to allow for easy reporting of sexual violence and harassment, as well as allowing survivors easy access to support as well as police services. 10

13. A long-term, visible commitment from senior leadership is necessary to ensure trust in reporting and supporting systems. 11 14. UUK Taskforce recommend that there is an institution-wide approach to combatting sexual violence and harassment. 12

15. GoodNightOut offer tailored accreditation for SUs fighting harassment. 13

1 https://theboar.org/2020/11/protest-held-against-warwick-universitys-handling-of-sexual-assault/?fbclid=IwAR3Y00MgQ28TvJgif nsAO5Oq00g_83myuZnRgFyh_nziqCLoskcYi1C2DAA

2 https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Pages/changing-the-culture-final-report.aspx. While this study is from 2016, its targets were reiterated and developed in 2019: (https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Pages/changing-the-culture-two-years-on.aspx)

3 https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Pages/changing-the-culture-final-report.aspx

4 https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Pages/changing-the-culture-final-report.aspx

5 https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Pages/changing-the-culture-final-report.aspx

6 https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Pages/changing-the-culture-final-report.aspx

7 https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Pages/changing-the-culture-final-report.aspx

8 https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Pages/changing-the-culture-final-report.aspx

9 https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Pages/changing-the-culture-final-report.aspx

10 https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Pages/changing-the-culture-final-report.aspx

11 https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Pages/changing-the-culture-final-report.aspx

12 https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Pages/changing-the-culture-final-report.aspx

13 https://www.goodnightoutcampaign.org/work-with-us/

This Union Believes: This section should include opinions or supporting statements for your policy.

1. The university and campus has a serious issue of sexual violence and assault which needs to be tackled at the root.

2. Preventative methods are always better than supportive methods. If we can prevent sexual assault from occuring through mandatory education, we reduce the number of cases on campus

3. That the University and Union are not currently doing enough to fight sexual violence on campus

4. That sexual violence is one of the biggest problems facing students at Warwick, and as such it is a KEY PRIORITY of the Union to combat this.

5. An intersectional approach to training, encompassing ethnic minorities, LGBTUA+, class and disabled people, is fundamental to understanding this problem.

This Union Resolves: This section should be about how you want the SU to react, the outcome of this policy. Remember to mandate specific departments/sabbatical officers; this will make things easier for future accountability

1. The President, Education Officer and Welfare officer to lobby the university to impose mandatory online (and in person, once the pandemic allows) education for all students, both freshers and returners, from the new academic year on topics relating to consent, sexual assault, and sexual violence more generally.

a. A report on the progress of negotiations should be read out (aloud) by Officers at All-Student meetings, every meeting, until this becomes University policy.

2. The Society Officer and Sports Officer to create mandatory sexual assault, consent and active-bystanders training for all societies and sports execs (Term 2 Week 10; 2021).

3. All the SU officers to share, from their Warwick Facebook pages,

a. the IHH and liberation societies leaflet

b. Active bystander training

c. WeGetConsent campaign opportunities

d. Report and Support Scheme All the above by Term 2, Week 2; 2021

 

4. The President to share the above information in the first weekly all students email after this motion passes.

5. The President to ensure that Union Marketing publishes Active Bystander training and WeGetConsent opportunities twice a term.

6. To create a bespoke email address for the sharing of the WeGetConsent campaign, which will be sent to all students by Term 2, Week 4; 2021. 7. All Commercial stuff to participate in the GoodNightOut training scheme, by Term 2, Week 10; 2021.

a. Additional training should be provided by PTOs (especially the Women’s Officer and Trans Officer), specifically around issues facing Warwick Students

b. This additional training should be organised in conjunction with Warwick Anti-Sexism Society and Sexpression Warwick.

 

8. Mandate the Welfare Officer and President to organise training for EVERY PERMANENT MEMBER OF UNION STAFF around sexual violence.

a. Warwick Anti-Sexism Society and Sexpression Warwick should be actively consulted around this training, including but not limited to teaching methods, external consultants, content and duration of training (Please leave the above box blank)