University policies are crucial to addressing gender-based violence (GBV) in higher education communities, and analysis of such policies could reveal how the sector is progressing on the issue of GBV as a whole.
However, we found no comprehensive, independent reviews of UK university GBV policies.
So we conducted the first such study to map the state of the sector – examining 129 institutions’ policies – which would be used to address GBV against students (and, in some cases, staff), identifying best practice and common missteps.
Anonymous reporting is vital given the significant gap between prevalence and low reporting rates for GBV in higher education (often said to be due to the significant barriers to disclosure), and gathering reporting data can enable institutions to monitor trends and take preventative action.
