Any form of bullying and harassment is #Never OK.
Bullying is offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour involving the misuse of power that can make a person feel vulnerable, upset, humiliated, undermined or threatened. Harassment is when someone intentionally or unintentionally violates a person’s dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment, which interferes with an individual’s learning, working or social environment.
Harassment may involve sexual harassment or be related to a protected characteristic such as age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy or maternity, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.
Some forms of harassment are considered a Hate Crime. A hate incident or crime is any act of violence or hostility against a person or property that is motivated by hostility or prejudice towards a person due to a particular protected characteristic.
Bullying and harassment are contrary to the Equality Act 2010 and the University Code of Good Practice.
If you think you have experienced any kind of bullying and harassment it may be hard to know what to do or to manage how you are feeling. Whatever you feel is a valid response and- there is no right or wrong way to feel or be. Your safety and wellbeing are the most important things right now and you can access support, if and whenever you feel ready.
If you think you have experienced any kind of bullying and harassment it may be hard to know what to do or to manage how you are feeling. Whatever you feel is a valid response and- there is no right or wrong way to feel or be. Your safety and wellbeing are the most important things right now and you can access support, if and whenever you feel ready.
Think
- Are you in immediate danger? If you are in immediate danger or seriously injured, you can contact the emergency services on 999 (or 112 from a mobile phone).
- Find a safe space. If an incident has just happened, try and find somewhere you feel safe.
- Let the University Security team know:
- Call 0118 378 6300 in the case of an emergency on campus. The University Security Team will be able to assist you in contacting the emergency services if necessary.
- Call 0118 378 7799 for any other non-emergency campus security concerns.
- What is bullying and harassment? It might be useful to think about what is meant by bullying and harassment and how these behaviours are described.
Report
- Report and Support. Students and staff can report an incident using the University’s Report and Support system. You can choose to do this anonymously or you can report with contact details. If you choose to report with contact details, a staff member from the appropriate University support service will be able to talk through the options and support available to you, in confidence.
- The University has a Bullying and Harassment procedure that sets out what to do to approach the issue informally. If you choose to make a formal complaint to the University about a student or member of staff there are procedures which set out the steps you'll need to follow.
- If you are a student, read the Student Complaints Procedure
- If you are an employee, read the Grievance Procedure
Get Support
Find out what support is available if you think you have been bullied or harassed:
Find out what support is available if you think you have been bullied or harassed:
Mental Health and Wellbeing
Find out more on the support available for mental health and wellbeing:
Find out more on the support available for mental health and wellbeing:
- Student Wellbeing Services
- Employee Health and Wellbeing
- Take care of yourself. It’s important that you take care of yourself. If you’ve heard something distressing or if something is troubling you, the University's Counselling Service offers confidential help and is open to students and employees can contact the Employee Assistance Programme.