1. Equally Safe in Higher Education? Anni Donaldson
University of Strathclyde, Scotland
Scottish Funding Council
Sharing Good Practice Seminar
14th June 2017

2. Gender-based Violence (GBV) - UK Devolved Distinctions
UK Government
Ending VAWG Strategy
gender-neutral working definition;
covers all forms of GBV;
re-emphasised crime prevention approach;
new legislation introduced.
Welsh Government
VAW, DA and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015
gendered analysis of abuse
requirement on public bodies to implement local & national GBV strategies;
holistic outcome focussed approach across all sectors including HE;
accountable to Welsh Government.
The Northern Ireland Executive
Stopping D and S Violence and Abuse 2016
gender-neutral definition;
mainly domestic & sexual violence;
crime prevention focus;
focus on schools based primary prev strateg
Scottish Government
Equally Safe A National Strategic Approach to Prevention of VaWG
gendered analysis of abuse;
GBV barrier to gender equality
holistic approach to prev & early intervention;
primary, sec & tertiary prev, leg, support
national VaWG Outcome Framework

3. “
No woman or girl in Scotland should be subjected to violence or abuse of any kind (physical, emotional, sexual or psychological) and no child or young person should have to experience gender-based violence or have to live with the impact of it.
Our aim is to work collaboratively with key partners across all sectors to prevent and eradicate all forms of violence against women and girls.
Equally Safe sets out a shared understanding of the causes, risk factors and scale of the problem. “
(Scottish Government 2016)

4. Gender-based Violence in Scotland
Police Scotland recorded 59,882 incidents of domestic abuse
95% (1901) rapes or attempted rapes recorded by PS had female victim (where gender known)
1 in 5 children/young people in the UK will have experienced domestic abuse by age 18 yrs
LGBT Youth Scotland research: 52% of respondents had experienced abusive behaviour from ex/partner
At least 32% of the 9,557 recorded sexual offences in Scotland involved a victim under 18
16 to 27 year old men are responsible for more than one third of reported rapes in Scotland (Police Scotland)
4% of women in Scotland have experienced serious sexual assault since age 16
1 in 4 female students reporting unwanted sexual behaviour during their studies and
1 in 5 experiencing sexual harassment during their first week of term (National Union of Students 2013).

5. Vanita Sundaram “Lad Culture” in HE (2014)
Universities have a weak response to ‘Lad Culture’ because conceptually they don’t understand it.
“Neo-liberal and depoliticised discourse of individual practices – gender treated as a descriptive variable rather than as a set of socially and culturally constructed expectations for lived practices (e.g. ‘incidents’ reported by gender rather than gender being understood as a social institution.”
Jackson, C., & Sundaram, V. (2015). Is ‘lad culture’a problem in higher education? Exploring the perspectives of staff working in UK universities. In International Conference on Research into Higher Education 2015 (pp. 1-8).

7. GBV & HE: The Scottish & UK context
So why try and address this in the University – and why now?
UUK Task force report last year
to examine violence against women, harassment and hate crime affecting university students was published on 21 October The key messages from the report were that:-
While there is no comprehensive data available on the number of such incidents, the impact of any such incident on a student is so potentially serious that universities must be ready to respond effectively and proactively engage in prevention initiatives
While many universities have already taken positive steps to address these issues, the taskforce found that university responses are not as comprehensive, systematic and joined-up as they could be.
Though these issues are not isolated to universities – they are of relevance to wider society, including schools and the local community – UK universities have a significant opportunity to lead the way in preventing and responding to violence against women, harassment and hate crime.
The ESHE project at Strathclyde is addressing all of these points.
Increased media focus
Scottish context: Police Scotland recorded 59,882 incidents of domestic abuse
95% (1901) rapes or attempted rapes recorded by PS had female victim (where gender was known)
At least 32% of the 9,557 recorded sexual offences in Scotland involved a victim under the age of 18.
4% of women in Scotland have experienced serious sexual assault since age 16
1 in 5 children/yp in the UK will have experienced domestic abuse by age 18 yrs.
UK Government figures show 79% of forced marriage cases involve female victims
LGBT Youth Scotland research found that 52% of respondents said that they had experienced some form of abusive behaviour from a partner or ex-partner.
16- to 27-year-old men are responsible for more than one third of reported rapes in Scotland according to Police Scotland
Universities UK Task Force Report 2016
Changing the Culture

8. Universities UK Task Force Report Changing the Culture 2016
Recommendations
Institution-wide Approach To Policy Development & Governance
Corporate Leadership
Student Union Leadership
Staff Training & Development
Recording & Monitoring
Evidence Based Prevention Programmes Including Bystander Approaches
Clear, Visible And Accessible Procedures For Reporting & Disclosure Handling
Clear Guidance On Dealing With Perpetrators Of Criminal & Disciplinary Offences
Partnership Working With Community And Local Specialist VAW Organisations

9. 5/19 Scottish HEIs contributed to Changing The Culture report;
A review of activity in Scottish Universities needed to contextualise intervention, prevention, policy and practice within its national, devolved policy context.
Part 1 of Rapid Review was undertaken of existing GBV policy and practice, prevention and intervention across all 19 Scottish HEIs.
McCullough, A., McCarry, M. and Donaldson, A. (2017) Rapid Review of Scottish Higher Education Responses to Gender Based Violence, Equally Safe in Higher Education project report, Glasgow: University of Strathclyde.

10. funded by the Scottish Government Justice stream
Equally Safe in Higher Education Toolkit A GBV Prevention & Early Intervention Plan 2016 – 2018
funded by the Scottish Government Justice stream

11. Scottish Government – Equally Safe“
Scottish Government – Equally Safe
Gender-based violence is a function of gender inequality, and an abuse of male power and privilege. It takes the form of actions that result in physical, sexual and psychological harm or suffering to women and children, or affront to their human dignity, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life. “
NB: GBV precludes neither the abuse of boys and men, same sex abuse nor female perpetration of such abuse. GBV can also include abuse by other family members, so-called ‘honour-based’ crimes and culturally harmful practices.

12. ESHE – A Partnership Approach

13. Equally Safe in Higher Education Project Implementation Plan
ESHE WORKSTREAMS
EQUALLY SAFE OUTCOMES
ESHE Research Plan
ESHE Toolkit
Equally Safe in Higher Education
Project Implementation Plan
Curriculum & KE
MOOC
PG Programme DA
Curric development
Social work, Social Policy Education
Outcome 4
Social acceptance of gender inequality is decreased
Early Intervention
Clear signposting to support/service pathways
Specialised support & service provision for staff and students
Good Practice Guide
Outcome 1
Individual needs of those affected fully met at earliest point
GBV Primary Prevention
Awareness Raising Campaigns
Bystander Programme (II)
Fresher’s Induction
Year group based GBV prevention programmes
Peer Education programmes
Programme evaluation
Outcome 3
Social tolerance of all forms of VAW reduced
Campus Policy, Safety, HR
Campus GBV Policy
Campus GBV safety Plan
Organisational & Staff Development
Incident monitoring & reporting
Responses to perpetrators
First responder training & disclosure handling
Reporting & intervention pathways
Outcome 2
Perpetrators dealt with effectively; reduced re-offending

14. THE TOOLKIT Rapid Review of Scottish Landscape Building on UUK Report
Whole Campus Survey Online Staff & Students
Qualitative Interviews & Focus Groups Individual and specialist groups
The Intervention Initiative Strathclyde Champions

15. Methodology Pilot Survey Re-Pilot Survey Interviews
self selecting sample - survey anonymous
Specialist Focus Groups
targeted groups
e.g. LGBT+, sports societies
Survey

16. The Survey Blank box Blank box Campus Safety Reporting “Lad Culture”
Experiences
Physical / non-physical / controlling behaviours
Stalking
Sexual harassment, abuse & violence
Victimisation & Perpetration
The Survey
Reporting
“Lad Culture”
Gender (in)Equality

17. GBV Staff and Student Policy Development
Collaborative Development: internal/external stakeholders
Co-ordinated cross-campus and community response
Asking the key questions on disclosure
Confidentiality vs action
Record taking and retention
Giving the staff member control
Related disclosures by 3rd party
Alleged perpetrators:
internal and external investigations
disciplinary action
GBV Early Intervention

18. ESHE - GBV Early Intervention
University of Strathclyde/Glasgow Rape Crisis Centre Partnership
GRCC Campus Drop-in Service
Report & Support (GBV) – Cross-campus emergency/non-emergency report & response process.
GBV Staff Development Training Programme - OSDU
Trauma-informed support service framework development – SEES & OSDU

19. ESHE – GBV Prevention Student GBV Policy Development – SEES/USSA
Intervention Initiative (II)
Freshers’ Week
USSA joint planning
Freshers’ Induction MOOC – GBV prevention
GBV Student Survey launch
ESHE Project publicity
GBV Service provision publicity
II Recruitment

20. INSIDE OUTSIDE - THE SEX INDUSTRY IN SCOTLAND
Thursday 22 June – 8.30 pm
Friday 23 June – 1.00
Insight Institute, The University of Strathclyde, 22 Richmond Street, Glasgow G1 1X
A multi-media exhibition of art, photography, video and audio installations based on and
featuring the voices and stories of women involved in prostitution in Scotland.
A project initiative by ENCOMPASS.
Exhibition is sponsored by
Equally Safe in Higher Education at the University of Strathclyde
and The Glasgow Violence Against Women Partnership.

21. ESHE – Curriculum & Knowledge Exchange
Professional responses to Domestic abuse - Social Work UG/PG Qualifying Courses development
BA Social Policy – Honours Module - GBV
Understanding Violence Against Women: Myths and Realities (forthcoming September 2017)

23. ann.donaldson@strath.ac.uk Equally Safe in Higher Educatione:
w: tiny.cc/equallysafeHE
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