Student Harassment and Sexual Misconduct

The University is committed to a zero-tolerance approach to any incidents of sexual misconduct and harassment, meaning that incidents of such behaviour should not be left unchallenged. Any incidents will be thoroughly addressed to ensure the preservation of a safe work and study environment.

Students can report bullying and/or harassment using the University’s Bullying and Harassment policy and the Sexual Violence and Harassment policy. Further guidance on this policy can be found on our Equality and Diversity policy page.

If students have experienced or witnessed any form of bullying, harassment, discrimination, gender-based violence, hate or micro-aggressions, or have a safeguarding concern, they can also report it anonymously or get support from a trained advisor via the Report + Support portal. This portal allows them to disclose information anonymously or provide contact details to allow a trained advisor to contact them around support options available so they can decide how they wish to proceed.

Students can also seek support and advice from the following teams:

• the Harassment, Domestic and Sexual Misconduct Service - this team is specially qualified to respond to incidents of domestic abuse, sexual harassment, sexual assault rape and stalking. The team offers short term support and information around sexual violence, harm and abuse in intimate relationships and relationships with family members.
• Dignity and Respect Advisors are volunteer members of university staff, who are specially trained and can provide impartial and confidential guidance and signposting to any registered students or staff who may have witnessed or experienced harassment or bullying. They can listen to what has happened and help and support individuals to make informed choices to deal with issues appropriately and as quickly as possible.

If you believe that you or others are at risk and need emergency help, call the Police or Ambulance Service on 999. You can also contact our 24hr Security team if you are on campus by calling 01707 28 5555. Further information around how to access emergency help for sexual violence can be found via the following links:

• Emergency Help for Sexual Violence
• It has happened to me

If you have experienced sexual violence or abuse in the past (before University or in your childhood) you can make an appointment to speak to the University’s Student Support Advisor (Sexual Violence) by emailing harassment@herts.ac.uk who will be able to provide support and signpost to local services. More information can be found on the Historic sexual violence and abuse.

The University will respect your decision and support you, whatever you decide to do next in terms of reporting any form of sexual violence.

Students and staff can disclose incidents of harassment and sexual misconduct and its effect on them or others by using the Report + Support Portal, This information may be provided anonymously or with contact details to allow the support teams to reach out.

Specific support can be accessed via a range of portals including Report + Support:

• What support is available for you as a student?
• It has happened to me

Ask Herts offers a range of support which can be further explored via the following links:

• Emergency Help for Sexual Violence
• Sexual Violence - what support is available for students?
• Harassment, Domestic and Sexual Misconduct Service
• Sexual Violence
• Student Wellbeing Services
• Bullying and Harassment

Additionally, students can access independent support from the Hertfordshire Students’ Union Advice and Support team

Investigations into allegations of harassment and sexual misconduct are carried out in accordance with the University’s Bullying and Harassment policy, Sexual Violence and Harassment policy and the Student Discipline policy for non-academic offences.

Investigations into allegations of harassment and sexual misconduct concerning a member of university staff are carried out in accordance with the University’s Staff Disciplinary Policy.

The University is committed to ensuring confidentiality in all aspects of University life, particularly for those disclosing incidents of harassment and sexual misconduct. Please see the University’s Data Protection Policy and Privacy Statement and the Student Wellbeing Confidentiality and Data Protection Policy for more information.

While every effort is made to protect the confidentiality of those disclosing harassment and sexual misconduct, there may be circumstances where it is necessary to share information with other agencies or internally to colleagues at the University. Further details can be found in the Bullying and Harassment - Sexual Violence and Harassment policy and in the Frequently Asked Questions section on the Report + Support portal.

The University will provide the student who has raised an allegation with an outcome of the investigation and/or explanation of the actions taken by the University, or not taken if applicable, in accordance with the Student Disciplinary Procedure, where it is reasonable and practical to do so. Depending on the circumstances, it may be only possible to provide limited information.

The University is committed to educating students around harassment and sexual misconduct, how to get support and how to intervene safely and appropriately if these behaviours are witnessed.

We are developing interactive training to begin in September 2025 for students to develop their understanding around consent, harassment and sexual misconduct and being an active bystander.

You can find more guidance about being an active bystander on our Be an active bystander page.

Information is available from Ask Herts if students need advice around Healthy Sex, Sexual Health Services for Students and Sexual Violence.

Training sessions on safeguarding, active bystanders, supporting victims of sexual violence, supporting distressed students, domestic abuse and stalking awareness are available throughout the academic year for staff and bookable via the HR Portal/system.

In addition, all staff are required to complete the mandatory online Sexual Harassment Awareness iHASCO training via their Employee Dashboard. Specialist staff are subject to continuous professional training around harassment and sexual misconduct.

Information on how staff can handle disclosures is available on our Report + Support page under Handling Disclosures.

The University is committed to ensure relationships between staff and students are professional and built on trust, confidence and fairness. Relationships between staff and students may compromise these principles.

Staff are strongly advised not to enter a personal relationship with students with whom they have any relationship within their academic, administrative or other duties. These relationships may lead to disciplinary action in themselves even if declared, especially if the staff member is in a position of trust.

Where staff have a pre-existing relationship or where a relationship develops during a course of study, they must report the ‘personal relationship’ in line with the regulations laid out in the Personal Relationships between Staff and Students policy.

The University actively seeks to protect students by providing the facility to report any incidents of harassment or sexual misconduct via our Report + Support portal. This easy-to-use application allows students to report incidents anonymously or reach out for support by identifying themselves.

Guidance around acting effectively is available on our Be an active bystander page.

New students joining the University from September 2025 will be required to complete online training with a view to safeguarding themselves and others.

Information is available from Ask Herts for staff to support students around Healthy Sex, Sexual Health Services for Students, and Sexual Violence.

Students are encouraged to reach out to the Students’ Union, via the Advice & Support page, who run a series of training sessions throughout the year aimed at protecting students.

The University actively seeks to protect students and staff by following the guidance laid down by the protections from sexual harassment that came into force in October 2024.

New protections from sexual harassment come into force - GOV.UK

The University of Hertfordshire will not use non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in relation to complaints of sexual harassment, abuse, misconduct, or other forms of harassment and bullying. In addition, since September 2024 the Office for Students has prohibited universities from using NDAs in relation to student allegations of harassment and sexual misconduct.

This means the providers must not prevent or restrict students from disclosing information.