8 December 2015 - Sexual harassment and 'lad culture'

Secretariat 4 December 2015

In recent years, various reports have examined the nature and prevalence of harassment on universities campuses. This section summarises the evidence, focusing specifically on sexual harassment and lad culture.

Political context

Tackling sexual harassment and violence (including domestic violence) against women remains a priority for the UK government.  In November 2010, the Home Office published its cross-government strategy Call to end violence against women and girls . The strategy focuses on four key areas; the prevention of violence, the provision of support, working in partnership, and education to reduce risk. Shortly after, the Home Office published an accompanying action plan , which has been updated every year since.

As part of this cross-government work, Public Health England commissioned the University of the West of England (UWE) to develop a bystander intervention programme – the Intervention Initiative. This was based on the findings from national crime statistics, which showed that female students were potentially at high risk of being a victim of a sexual offence because sexual offenders targeted women aged 16-19 and students more than any other age or occupation group.  In addition, women aged 16-24 were also at a higher risk of domestic violence than any other group .

Although the higher education sector was not cited specifically in the government’s call to action, universities have been encouraged by government to consider establishing a bystander programme. Alongside this, universities have come under increasing scrutiny by other organisations in relation to sexual harassment and the prevalence of lad culture on campus.

Wider interest in sexual harassment on campus

In the last two years, there have been campaigns by the NUS, the media and the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW) to highlight the impact of lad culture. The EVAW‘s report New technology, Same Old Problems  highlighted ways in which social media is used to abuse women and girls. In early 2015, the EVAW sent a legal briefing to all vice-chancellors to support the sector in understanding their legal obligations, Spotted: Obligations to Protect Women Students’ Safety & Equality .
 
The media has also taken a particular interest in lad culture and sexual harassment - including a campaign by the Telegraph urging universities to do more.  Examples of the ongoing media interest can be found below:   
• NUS finds ‘startling’ lack of sexual harassment policies on campuses (Guardi-an)
• Universities are failing to tackle sexist and homophobic lad culture, says NUS (The Independent)
• Lad culture thrives at our neoliberal universities (The Guardian)
• Sexual assault victims: don’t rely on your college website for help (The Guardian)

In 2014, the annual report  produced by the Chief Executive of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) (England and Wales) identified sexual harassment and lad culture as an emerging issue of concern and urged universities to take a more proactive approach to dismantling laddish culture.  On 26 November, the Chief Executive gave a key note speech at the Westminster Briefing conference on tackling sexual harassment and lad culture.     

To view the full briefing and agenda please open the PDF below.