Support if you’ve experienced harassment or discrimination

Overview

Part of what makes harassment and discrimination so emotionally impactful is that it attempts to attack a core part of your identity, and also likely plays into negative social stereotypes or prejudices which may have impacted you before. 

We’re here to support you, and we take these incidents very seriously. 

You may not know what your next steps will be, feel uncertain about what happens next, or worry about whether it’s something you want to share with anyone else. 

Whatever your circumstances, support is available for you and your wellbeing. This comes with no expectation that you have to take forward a report, but we can support you if you decide to do so.

Support from our Safeguarding and Welfare team 

Our Safeguarding and Welfare team is the first point of contact for any student who’s been impacted by harassment or discrimination. You don’t have to make a report to be able to access the service. 

They can help you with:   

• Offering confidential advice and information to help you decide what’s right for you
• Contacting your academic school to make them aware of your experience and providing a supporting statement for extenuating circumstances
• Being referred to counselling, medical and legal services
• Accessing self-care support
• Providing information and educational information
• Being there to listen
• Making a formal report to the University and/or the police

To get in touch, complete the disclosure form on Report + Support:

Complete a disclosure form

If you live in University residences

The Residence Life team will be your first point of contact if you’re living in University residences. 

You can contact by completing a disclosure form on Report + Support or you can also contact them via your Residence Life Mentor (student login required).  

The Residence Life team will provide the same support as our Safeguarding and Welfare team above. 

You can access support without having to take forward a report. 

Sharing information with your school

If you’d like your school to be aware of what you’ve experienced, but feel uncomfortable telling them yourself, your Safeguarding and Welfare supporter can do so on your behalf. 

They’ll confirm what information you’d like to be shared and if there’s a particular member of staff you’d like them to contact initially. 

It will be made clear to your academic school that this information is sensitive and should only be shared with other staff where it is necessary to be able to provide you with support.

Extenuating circumstances

If you're experiencing difficulties that are affecting your studies, particularly your ability to complete any upcoming assessments, you can apply for extenuating circumstances so they can be taken into consideration.

Your Safeguarding and Welfare supporter can provide a statement to support your application. 

The content of the statement will include factual details such as the date you disclosed the incident(s) to the Safeguarding and Welfare service, and how long you have been in contact with them, rather than detailed information about what you have experienced.

Other University support

Support from your Students’ Union

For some people, it’s helpful to seek community with others when a part of our identity is attacked. There are many societies, groups and liberation networks in the Students' Union.

Students' Union clubs and societies

Student Experience Diversity and Inclusion team (SEDI) 

SEDI run several groups and activities to support students from underrepresented groups, including mature students, care leavers and estranged students.

Belief, No Belief and Religious Life Centre (BNBR) 

An inclusive space on campus for all students, whether or not they have a belief, and offers pastoral and spiritual support, as well as social events where everyone is welcome.

Belief, No Belief and Religious (BNBR) Life Centre

Mental health support

Our Student Mental Health, Counselling and Therapies Service can provide support if you need help with your mental health. They also run events, workshops and support groups (student login required), including a BME student support group and ADHD support sessions.

Mental health support (student login required)

Student Wellbeing Service 

The Wellbeing Service can offer short-term one-to-one support to help you make sense of what you’ve experienced and to find ways of managing your feelings and reactions. They also facilitate a weekly lunchtime peer support group for neurodiverse students (student login required).

Wellbeing (student login required)

University support for your community group

• Communities and belonging (student login required)
• Student LGBT+ life and support
• Support for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) students
• Information, advice and guidance for Muslim students

External support

The Equality Advisory and Support Service can provide advice and support if you think you have been treated unfairly.

Victim Support provides support to anyone who has been the victim of a crime. They can support you coping with the after-effects of crime and help with reporting to the police. It doesn’t matter whether you have reported the crime to the police or when the crime occurred.

If you’ve witnessed harassment and/or discrimination

Witnessing any kind of harassment or discrimination, even if it isn’t directed at you, can be very distressing. 

We’re here to support you, and we take these incidents very seriously. Support is available for you and your wellbeing, and we’ll work with you around options if you’d like to make a report about what you witnessed. 

The first priority is the safety and wellbeing of you and the person(s) who was targeted. 

If you know the person who was the target of the harassment and/or discrimination, please encourage them to read the support for students who’ve experienced harassment and/or discrimination’

If the victim is a friend of yours and wants to talk to you about what happened, just taking the time to listen to them and talk about what’s happened can really help. It can be difficult to know what to say, but usually what people need and want is to feel heard.

 If you have concerns about their wellbeing and don’t think they will reach out for support on their own, you can submit a disclosure yourself on Report + Support, selecting ‘on behalf of someone else’ when asked on the form. It’s most helpful to the Safeguarding and Welfare team, who receive these disclosures if they know that your friend is aware you’ve made this referral for them, but not essential.

If you have concerns about their mental health or wellbeing, the page below provides guidance on what to do.

How to help other students with mental health difficulties (student login required)