Anonymous data is crucial to tackling gender-based violence in higher education, even if it rarely leads to disciplinary outcomes.
However, a false assertion persists that an institution can not act on anonymous reports of harassment and sexual misconduct. This simply isn’t true. Within the 2016 Changing the Culture report, there is no mention of “can’t” when it comes to anonymous reports. The report acknowledges that it may be difficult and challenging to investigate, and there “is likely to be insufficient evidence to proceed”, but when it comes to taking some sort of action, it was never a “no”.
There is actually so much that we can do.
At the University of York, we’ve developed an Anonymous Report Assessment, a form we complete for every anonymous report received. We ask ourselves key questions to ascertain what we6 could or should be doing in response to the information received. This assessment covers basic questions such as “Is anybody identified who is under the age of 18?”, practical elements such as “Are any locations and times given which may enable us to check CCTV?” and risk-related questions, such as “What risk might we be introducing by taking action?” and “What risk might remain if we do not take action?” We’ve learned that a good deal of action can be taken when you don’t start from a “no”.
