To adequately tackle sexual violence, we need to know who it is happening to, who is perpetrating it, and where it is happening.
In the absence of national or institution-level data in this area, we decided to carry out a survey on gender-based violence and harassment at our university to build a clear picture of what students were experiencing to make the case for investing in prevention and response work and to understand how best to target such work.
In November – December 2020, a partnership between the students’ union and academic staff at an anonymised university in England surveyed 1303 students – predominantly undergraduates – drawing on internationally recognised survey instruments. The university provided an ethical review, and we worked with the student wellbeing service to set up appropriate support systems for respondents. The survey was sent to all students enrolled in the university by their Students’ Union Welfare Officer.
We had a response rate of 4.2 per cent. 725 respondents permitted us to use their data in publications – discussed here – and the findings from the full sample were presented to the university.
