For some time now, students at higher education institutions have been demanding more action from their universities in addressing sexual violence.
Following guidance from UK Universities Changing the Culture Report, we founded the Oxford Understanding Relationships, Sex, Power, Abuse, and Consent Experiences (OURSPACE) study to both assess the prevalence and nature of sexual violence among UK university students and understand the feasibility challenges of monitoring trends in sexual violence in a UK higher educational setting.
Collecting data on sexual violence is the first step to effectively resourcing prevention and response policy and programming. While surveys that measure sexual violence are routine (and legally mandated) at US institutions, they are much less common in the UK (as shown in our recent meta-analyses). Therefore, the purpose of our study was two-fold:
1. Understand student experiences of sexual violence at the University of Oxford
2. Understand barriers to doing this research in the UK
