Durham group ‘Safe Education’ to back bill for higher-education students against sexual violence

Durham University’s Safe Education, a student-led campaign “committed to tackling the culture and response to harassment and sexual violence”, is among other groups fighting for a statutory Duty of Care bill for universities.

They have secured a second debate on Tuesday, 13th January, helped by ForThe100 and TimeToAct at Cardiff University to push their voices into Parliament.

What is a Duty of Care?

A statutory Duty of Care would require universities to have a legal responsibility to safeguard students, making them accountable for their students’ safety, particularly over sexual violence. This would demand they organise themselves to address known risks, or act when vulnerability has occurred.

This would provide university students with the same legal protection as employees in workplaces, such as lecturers, or even pupils in primary and secondary education.

They are campaigning out of a shared frustration over what is often deemed rather complicated, but is actually quite simple. Safe Education aims to resolve the issue of university students being exempt from this statutory Duty of Care, following their dissatisfaction with the outcome of the first debate.

It is backed by a UK-based grassroots campaign group, ForThe100, made up primarily of Safe Education, Sex?OnCampus, and TimeToAct.

What is the situation currently?

Without this bill, universities do not have a standardised Duty of Care towards their students, and can interpret this in any way they see fit. This means university policies across the county are often inconsistent, so they aren’t legally obliged to act if sexual assault risks are known. Students are therefore not protected under common law.

Instead, it requires a ‘reasonable’ standard of teaching and pastoral support.

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A study conducted by the Palatinate found that Durham’s ‘compulsory’ consent course had not been completed by 7000 students. This worrying oversight means that the university has no legal reference that enforces this training. Students are therefore at risk to harmful consequences as this isn’t legally enforceable.

62% of students and graduates have experienced sexual violence at UK universities

Oliwia Charowska, the founder of Safe Education spoke of “institutional fumbling’s” where responsibilities are not clearly defined, which is problematic as university policies are differentiated.

She told us that “some can invest heavily in preventative measures whereas others can implement near to nothing”.

Kate Hart Wilson, the foundear of Sex?OnCampus at Edinburgh University told us that the only duty that currently applies is “extremely narrow”, and a lot of the time “isn’t upheld”.

Therefore, these groups have united and mobilised over a shared frustration at universities’ lack of accountability for the mechanisms they put in place. Oliwia from Safe Education joined forces with other university groups as the issues she witnessed in Durham alone raised awareness towards a much wider issue that  exists nationally.

Durham’s policy:

Durham University released a statement on a Duty of Care to students and staff, stating that “Our duty of care for students is to provide teaching along with learning support and pastoral support to the standard of the reasonably competent higher education institution and to act reasonably in our aim of protecting the health, safety and welfare of our students.”

“Our Professional Support Services, Departments and Colleges and the staff within our community providing pastoral or line manager support should not go beyond providing appropriate support.”

This means the University being clear on boundaries, ensuring our colleagues are being suitably supported themselves and being helped to manage any psychological distress.”

This coincided with statements of trend monitoring for such issues as sexual misconduct and violence (SMV) reports, finding that in the academic year 2023/24 (the most recent report available), 243 disclosures were made.

291 of the incidents affirmed a continued trend of increase since their first statement in 2015.

The intended outcome of the bill:

Safe Education and other student-led campaign groups alike are hoping the debate calls for greater recognition towards the issue, providing a “catalyst” to opening this beyond Westminster.

Oliwia noted that a Duty of Care for students hasn’t really been examined beyond student well-being more generally, so this is important in order to protect students from sexual violence.

They hope to see sexual violence recognised as a major issue faced by university students, providing trauma-informed legislation to reflect its importance.

A statutory Duty of Care would also cement students’ protection, without fear that policies could be undone. For Oliwia, this would “take the burden of responsibility off students’ shoulders”.

They intend to secure a sanction matrix that reaches a reasonable standard, establishing a “bare minimum” which defines consequences accordingly. This may help survivors feel confident in coming forward, as currently many are discouraged, often questioning if there is any point if justice may not be sought.

What is Safe Education, and how does this link to a Duty of Care?

Safe Education was founded as a student campaign group at Durham University. Oliwia, the founder, now a Durham graduate, has spoken of her motivations in founding this independent campaign out of a strong desire to protect students’ safety on campus. Informed by survivor testimonies, she was disturbed by the amount of sexual violence at university.

From this, Safe Education shed light on this issue, which is not limited to Durham alone; High rates of violence occur nation-wide, and campaign-groups are all fighting for the same thing, and therefore university policies should be standardised. These overlapping issues prompted Safe Education to reach out to other groups campaigning along the same lines, urging the government to establish a legal, statutory Duty of Care.

Featured image via Canva

If you have been affected by any of the content raised in this article, students can access support through the university’s wellbeing page.  

You can contact the Samaritans at any time by calling 116 123.  Alternatively, you can contact Shout, a 24/7 text messaging service, by texting the word “Shout” to 85258.

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