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NUS' study into sexual harrassment in University found that three in ten students (28 per cent) had been pressured to establish an unwanted sexual or romantic relationship and that one in seven respondents (14 per cent) had experienced attempted rape/unwanted sexual intercourse.
This is an issue that is prevelant all over the UK, students at the University of York created their own campaigning group around it. Not on my campus is also a national campaign focusing on this issue, with their current project being lobbying Universities to sign the pledge to stop using NDAs for sexual harassment, bullying & other forms of misconduct.
We're currently meeting with the night time economy group & Sheffield City Council to make sure you feel safe on nights out regarding spikings. You can also check out our Safe Taxi scheme.
It has been brought to our attention that students want security staff to be better trained in dealing with victims of sexual harrassment and that you want bars & venues to continue the activity they started last year when it came to trainings & drink covers. Our Officer Charlie Breen is currently looking into this and is writing proposals to lobby the Security Industry Authority to mandate this training.
What other work would you like to see regarding sexual violence? You can check out our Advice Centre's Wellbeing pages on Sexual Health & Relationships if you need any general advice.
Feeling angry about experiences of sexual violence? Want to run a campaign on this? Get in touch with the Student Rights and Campaigns team.
Student Rights and Campaigns team can be contacted at studentrights@shu.ac.uk.