Support if you’ve experienced sexual violence or sexual harassment

Overview

Sexual violence (often referred to as sexual misconduct within the University), is any incident of unwanted sexual behaviour. It includes, but isn’t limited to, rape, sexual assault, image based sexual abuse and sexual harassment.

If you’ve experienced any form of sexual violence, whatever the circumstances, whenever it happened, it was not your fault. Support is available both on and off campus and you can access either or both to suit you.

You can access support from our Sexual Violence Liason Officer (SVLO) service. 

Support from our Sexual Violence Liason Officers

Our Sexual Violence Liaison Officers (SVLOs) are specialist advisers within the University. They provide practical support to anyone who has experienced sexual violence and/or sexual harassment. They can support you regardless of when or where the incident occurred, including outside of the University.

Our SVLOs can also help you access other relevant support services, explore your options should you wish to report what’s happened, and provide guidance and support throughout the reporting process, should you choose to proceed.

You don’t have to report your experience to the University or to the police to access support from the SVLO service. The decision to make a report is entirely up to you. 

Everyone’s experience is personal to them and we all react in different ways. It’s therefore important that survivors of sexual violence decide the best way forward for themselves, without pressure from others. Your SVLO won’t tell you what to do, but will discuss the options available and be led by you.

Our SVLOs don’t provide a counselling or therapy service, but can offer short term practical support, including:

• impartial information and guidance around your reporting options within the University and externally
• accessing University wellbeing and mental health support
• liaising with academic schools to ensure a joined up approach to your academic needs
• help with accessing financial support and temporary accommodation if you need it
• making referrals to specialist external services
• acting as a point of contact for external services (where required)

How to access the service

To access the service, submit a disclosure via Report and Support.

After you submit a disclosure, you’ll receive an automated response to confirm receipt. 

We’ll contact you within five working days, and assign you an SVLO to support you. 

If you’d prefer an SVLO of a certain gender, we’ll aim to meet that request where possible. 

One of our SVLOs will then contact you directly.

Further support you can access through your SVLO 

Specialist University counselling

If you have experienced sexual violence whilst a student at the University, you can seek specialist counselling with counsellors who have completed trauma therapy training via the Student Mental Health, Counselling and Therapies Service.

You will be offered an initial appointment with one of these trauma-trained counsellors who will explain what your options are, help you think through what you may need, and explain how they can best support you. They will also discuss your next steps if you decide together that therapy is something you would like to try. 

Your SVLO will explain how to register for this support.

Help with sharing information with your school

If you’d like your academic school to be aware of what you’ve experienced, but feel uncomfortable telling them yourself, your SVLO can do this on your behalf. 

They’ll talk to you about what information you’d like to share and if there’s a particular member of staff that 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.

Providing supportive statements for Extenuating Circumstances applications

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 SVLO 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 to the SVLO Service and how long you’ve been in contact with them, rather than detailed information about what you have experienced.

Risk management and safety planning

You won’t be asked to give a full account of your experience to your SVLO, but they may need to ask some questions about your personal circumstances. This is so they can provide you with the most appropriate support and understand if there’s any immediate risk to you or other members of the University. 

If any concerns or risks are identified, they’ll work with you to ensure that where possible, these are addressed.

If your SVLO considers that there is significant ongoing risk for you and /or other members of the community, they may need to escalate their concerns to the University’s Risk Assessment Panel. The Risk Assessment Panel is responsible for carrying out risk assessments and implementing precautionary measures to mitigate these if appropriate. 

Your SVLO will inform you in advance of this happening and will continue to support you throughout the process. 

More information about the Risk Assessment Panel

Student Wellbeing Service 

Your faculty's wellbeing adviser can provide short-term interventions to help manage symptoms that you may experience after an incident of sexual violence, such as increased feelings of anxiety or difficulty sleeping. 

You can self-refer to this service. 

Book an appointment with a wellbeing adviser

External support services

The SVLO Service can help you to access external support services, but you can also self-refer to access their support if you’d prefer.

Sheffield Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre (SRASAC)

SRASAC offer people who live in Sheffield: 

• A dedicated confidential Information and Support line
• Specialist counselling for survivors
• An Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA) service which offers specialist confidential practical help and emotional support, including support through the criminal justice system

Their counsellors and Independent Sexual Violence Advisers have knowledge and understanding of the many effects of sexual violence. You won’t be forced to talk about anything you don’t wish to, and you can expect the person you talk with to be familiar with the difficulties you’re having.

Find out more about their services

Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC)

Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) are available across the country and offer confidential health care and emotional support to anyone who’s experienced rape and/or sexual assault. 

In Sheffield our SARC is called Hackenthorpe Lodge and the services they offer include:

• immediate over-the-phone rape and sexual assault support and signposting to specialist services
• in-person rape or sexual assault crisis support and healthcare including access to medicine
• forensic medical examinations
• collection and storage of forensic samples
• holistic examinations and care for non-recent cases

You’ll be offered these services based on your individual needs and you can choose to use as much or as little of the service as you wish.

Any forensic samples that are collected during a medical examination will be kept for up to two years. These can support any future report you may wish to make to the police.

Contact Hackenthorpe Lodge to make an appointment before attending the SARC in person. 

If you need any help in getting there, your SVLO can organise transport for you via the University’s security team.