GOOD PRACTICE FRAMEWORK: HANDLING REPORTS ABOUT HARASSMENT AND SEXUAL MISCONDUCT  - Making a disclosure or a report

78It can be difficult for a student who has experienced or witnessed harassment and/or sexual misconduct to tell their provider about it. Barriers to making a disclosure or report can include:

a.    Uncertainty about whether the behaviour was unacceptable and whether and when it is “worth” reporting, for example, if there is a gradual pattern of escalation.

b.    Uncertainty about what process will be followed and anxiety about a loss of control.

c.    Uncertainty about what actions may result and concern about how effective these may be to keep the reporting person safe.

d.    A previous negative experience of making a disclosure or report in the same or a different forum.

e.    Feelings of embarrassment, shame or guilt about what happened.

f.    Fear about being ostracised, being judged or being treated differently because of the disclosure or report.

g.    Fear about retaliation by the responding person or by people or organisations associated with them.

h.    Fear about how their fitness to practise in a regulated profession may be perceived if they reveal that they are experiencing difficulties with their wellbeing.

i.    Not being able to make the disclosure or report because it may compromise their welfare to revisit what happened.

j.    Not (yet) being in a position to fully recognise the impact of what happened.

k.    Not knowing whether another person who experienced the behaviour would want the matter to be reported.

79Providers can address some of these barriers by making it as easy as possible for students to share their concerns about the behaviour of other people. Providers must have clear, simple and accessible routes for students to tell them about incidents of harassment and/or sexual misconduct. Providers must publicise these routes to students regularly.

80Giving students assurances that the information they provide in a disclosure or a report will be held securely, and that the reporting student’s identity and personal information will only be shared on a “need to know basis” may help students to come forward.

81It is not the responsibility of a reporting student to correctly identify whether the behaviour they are concerned about meets the definition of harassment or sexual misconduct or is better described under another aspect of the provider’s standards of behaviour. It is the provider’s responsibility to decide the best fit for the described behaviour within the definitions it uses.

Timeliness and non-recent reporting

82In other sections of the Good Practice Framework we usually suggest that student-facing complaints and appeals procedures should specify time limits for students to raise concerns. In general, raising a concern promptly can enable a provider to find a quick and positive resolution, which may stop a situation escalating. It can also help providers in gathering relevant information to consider. Providers may encourage students who experience harassment and/or sexual misconduct to disclose or report as soon as they can, but should recognise that students may not be able to disclose or report what has happened for a prolonged period.

83Providers should not apply a time limit to the process for students to make a disclosure about harassment and/or sexual misconduct. Providers should not tell students or former students that they are too late to make a disclosure for the purpose of seeking advice and support, regardless of how long they have taken to disclose.

84It is good practice not to apply a time limit to the process for students to make a formal report about harassment or sexual misconduct. If a provider does apply a time limit, this should be operated with significant flexibility recognising the barriers that may prevent rapid reporting. In exercising their discretion to accept reports outside of the preferred timeframe, providers should have regard to the severity of the incident or behaviour and the impact upon the reporting person or other person affected by the behaviour.  Where it is reasonable to assume that the impact was significant, it will not usually be appropriate to require students to provide evidence to prove that they were unable to engage with the reporting process at an earlier time. Providers should also consider whether there is an ongoing potential risk to its community.

85This does not mean that a provider must consider or take action in response to non-recent reports in the same manner that they would respond to a contemporaneous report. Providers should still direct reporting students to the support that is available to them, and explain other options the student may have, such as reporting to the police. It may be appropriate to direct former students to support services outside the provider.

86Providers should also explain whether it is possible to carry out an investigation into what happened. It may not be possible to gather additional evidence about the issues raised if relevant individuals are no longer available. The passage of time may affect the completeness and accuracy of different individual’s recollection of an event in different ways. An event that was particularly significant for the reporting student may not have been perceived in the same way or remembered in the same detail by other individuals. Conversely, in some circumstances the lapse of time may allow patterns to be identified, for example from reports that have been made at different times. Other forms of evidence from the time of the event may still exist, for example in the form of emails or screenshots.

87A provider is unlikely to have any remit to take disciplinary action against students who are no longer studying because the provider no longer has a contractual relationship with them. Similarly, a provider is unlikely to have any remit to begin a disciplinary process in respect of former staff. Where the provider is aware that the reported person is practising within a regulated profession, it should carefully consider whether it has any obligation to share information about reports it has received, for example with the relevant PSRB, DBS or LADO.

88Despite these challenges, providers should carefully consider whether it can carry out any investigation outside a formal disciplinary process, or whether it is proportionate to take any other action. Providers should be particularly alert to reports that refer to behaviour of staff who are still employed or that refer to systemic or embedded cultures of unacceptable behaviours. Providers may decide to increase oversight of or supportive training in a particular area, without needing a clear finding of fault.

89Even where it is not possible for a provider to carry out a meaningful investigation, providers may still benefit from an understanding of how students have experienced their time studying. This kind of information can help providers understand the effectiveness of their interventions over time.

In-person disclosure

90Providers should provide clear routes for students to make a disclosure about harassment and/or sexual misconduct including in person or by telephone or video call. If the provider has one or more members of staff with specific responsibility for, and specialist training in, responding to disclosures and reports of this nature, they should publicise how students can contact them.  

91Even where specialist roles exist, some students may choose to make a disclosure to another member of staff. Sometimes students may make an unplanned disclosure to a member of staff who comes across the student experiencing distress. This means that any member of staff in any role may receive a disclosure from a student.

92Providers should ensure that all staff understand what to do if a student makes a disclosure about harassment or sexual misconduct to them. As a minimum, providers should ensure that staff know where to direct students for further support, information and guidance about its processes. Staff should also know how and when to act on immediate concerns they may have about a student’s wellbeing. This is likely to fall within the provider’s existing approaches to safeguarding.

93Providers should inform staff about how to make an appropriate record of the disclosure, to enable it to determine what action to take. (see paragraphs 110-113.) For example, providers may ask staff to record disclosures by using the same online tool available to students.

94Receiving a disclosure from a student can be distressing for members of staff. We encourage providers to take steps to protect the wellbeing of their staff in these circumstances.