Goldsmiths publishes sexual violence figures

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Goldsmiths, University of London has for the first time published figures relating to reports and disclosures of sexual harassment, misconduct and violence received by the College.

The data comes from the Report and Support online reporting tool and covers the academic year 2017-2018. The Report and Support website was launched in March 2018 and this marks the first time such detailed data has been publicly available.

Report and Support allows anyone who has experienced sexual violence, harassment, misconduct, stalking or domestic violence to report or disclose incidents. These reports or disclosures can be either submitted with personal details or anonymously.

The release shows that in total some 120 reports or disclosures were received by the College – with more than half of these relating to reports or disclosures made about a person from outside the university community. A detailed breakdown is available in the data document.

In addition to the figures the College also has new data on staff training around sexual harassment. Since the training was introduced in January 2018 more than 50 per cent of staff – over 1,000 individuals – have participated in training sessions.

The publication of this information is part of the College’s Against Sexual Violence campaign, which is jointly run with Goldsmiths Students’ Union and the local branches of the two main staff unions, UCU and UNISON. Today's publication also marks the end of the College's participation in the worldwide 16 Days Of Action To End Gender-Based Violence campaign. 

The release is the first annual publication of this data and represents the College’s ongoing commitment to transparency on this work.

Report and Support was launched in March 2018 – with all reports and disclosures received by the College in academic year 2017/18 entered into the new system once it was live.  

Elisabeth Hill, deputy Warden and chair of the Sexual Harassment Advisory Board which oversees this work, said: “Our figures demonstrate the scale of the problem facing society as a whole, with more than half of reports or disclosures submitted about the behaviours of people from outside College.

“Sadly, Goldsmiths is not immune, with the figures showing that unacceptable behaviours are taking place within our community. We will be using the information from report and support to guide our ongoing work to tackle this vital issue.

“We hope publishing these figures helps to give everyone in our community the confidence to come forward and tell us if they have experienced any of these behaviours, with the reassurance that the College is determined to address these issues.”