Changing the culture:

The University is committed to addressing gender-based violence, harassment and hate and the Advice and Response Service work in partnership with students and colleagues across the University to achieve this.

Our work is led by Universities UK, Changing the Culture Report.

Consent Education

It is vital that everyone in our university community has the opportunity to gain a healthy and positive understanding of consent. We want to empower you to better understand your own boundaries and to respect those of others, as well as gain knowledge about consent and healthy relationships in all, and every, form.

As our university community is so large, we have a number of different ways of delivering information around consent working with Faculties and Schools as well as key partners such as the Students’ Union, Sports Office and ResLife.

This includes;

• A pre-registration “Starting University” module, which is shared with students before they arrive and register on campus. This is all about preparing you for the big transition in many aspects of your lives when arriving on campus. This includes Healthy Relationships and Consent. We also share a version of this module for Returning Students, Postgraduate Taught and Postgraduate Research Students.

• A consent module, which is shared as a key part of induction through your Schools but also promoted throughout the year on an ongoing basis. The online course is to explore with you the complexities of consent when applied to our lives and our relationships, why we need to talk about it, and what you can expect from a sexual partner. We want everyone to feel confident in communicating consent and tuning into our body, as well as understanding the signs and signals from other people.

• A consent module in the context of drugs and alcohol, to further develop your understanding of consent. Please be advised this link will take you to an external site where you will need to create a login to begin. You will need to ensure that Cookies are enabled on your browser.

• An interactive theatre workshop, on consent and active bystander skills. This is an in-depth 2-hour face-to-face workshop, currently delivered as a targeted intervention to specific student groups.

Campaigns

• Speak Up, Stand Up
• Never Ok

Disclosure Training

We recognise that any member of staff or student leader may receive a disclosure from a student and provide training to ensure that everyone knows how to respond appropriately. We have an online module for staff and deliver face-to-face training for staff in student-facing pastoral roles, including school support teams, security and reslife teams.

Working with students

We recognise that there will always be work to be done in this space  and we are committed to collaborating with students to address these issues. This includes regular consultation with the Students’ Union and student campaign groups such as Resist Rape Culture.

Can’t Buy My Silence

The University has not used Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) in student complaints or reports about gender-based violence, harassment or hate and since February 2021, has been a signatory to the Can’t Buy My Silence Universities Pledge.

https://www.cantbuymysilence.com/uni-pledge

Sexual Violence Action Network

In 2021, the University of Manchester established the Sexual Violence Action Network for Students in partnership with the other Manchester Universities, Students’ Unions, Greater Manchester Police, Local Authority and Local Services. The network is committed to providing an effective partnership response to sexual violence and harassment for Manchester’s significant student population.

The network aims to;

1. Improve our understanding of trends and patterns in sexual violence against students;
2. Increase students’ confidence, trust, and awareness in reporting incidents to both GMP and the University;
3. Facilitate holistic multi-agency support for student victim/survivors of sexual violence
4. Share relevant campaigns and communications across partners to raise awareness of these issues amongst students;
5. Identify and share good practice in Manchester, nationally and internationally.
6. To highlight issues of sexual violence against students to wider bodies such as local and national government

The network recognises and understands the importance of these issues within different student communities. The individual universities in partnership with Students’ Unions will consult with relevant student groups for feedback on the work of the network and to set priorities and the direction of the group. Particularly important is the student/survivor voice and the network is committed to capturing and enhancing this.

If you would like any more information about the network, please contact the Chair of the Network, Emily Barrett, Acting Advice and Response Manager (Safeguarding, Gender-Based Violence and Hate) Emily.Barrett@manchester.ac.uk