One of the Lads - Tackling Sexual Harassment and 'Lad Culture' on Campus
Although aimed at universities, there are some helpful lessons to be learned for further education colleges from the call to arms of David Javid, the government's Business Secretary.
David Javid recently wrote to Vice Chancellors of universities urging them to set up a taskforce to explore ways of tackling 'lad culture' on campus, following a growing number of complaints of sexual and verbal assaults against female students.
The letter follows a number of high profile cases raising concerns over the way that universities handle these kinds of allegations, and a survey by the NUS on the prevalence of these issues on campus.
Whilst the focus is currently on universities to tackle these issues, they are not exclusive to the higher education sector. FE colleges should therefore be proactive in discouraging 'lad culture' and as a matter of best practice colleges should be looking to take action now, particularly given the continued media interest in this issue.
What should colleges be doing?
As a starting point colleges should consider:
- Reviewing policies and procedures
This could include the college's equality and diversity, drugs and alcohol, student conduct and complaints policies. The policies not only need to be compliant but should also work on a practical level. Most importantly, students and staff need to know what is acceptable conduct, when it is breached, who they should be reporting incidents to and how this should be done.
- Evaluating current training provision
Policies and procedures are only effective if they are implemented properly, students and staff are conversant with them and they are consistently enforced. Colleges should consider whether refresher training for staff is required and also think about how to maximise student awareness of the issues. Developing links with the student groups to address this issue may be helpful.
- Developing and maintaining positive relationships with local police
Colleges will often need to work with the police when incidents of this kind are reported and share information where appropriate. Having a constructive working relationship can help to facilitate this and ensure that incidents are dealt with promptly and effectively.
- Notifying insurers
If a college is informed of an incident then, depending on the circumstances and nature of the allegation, it could be reportable to insurers. Colleges should review the requirements of their insurance policies (most will require notification of circumstances which could give rise to a claim as soon as possible) so that they can act appropriately and ensure that cover is available if required. Depending on the scope of the policy, cover for reputational and PR issues may also be available. The duty to report is ongoing, so insurers should be kept up to date as a matter progresses or if the nature of an allegation changes.
How can we help?
Our team of specialist FE lawyers have specific experience in drafting and reviewing policies and student codes of conduct, advising on harassment and equality issues as well as assault and compensation claims. We also support colleges in investigating specific incidents, assisting the police and managing wider reputational issues.