David Tennant wants to make you comfortable

Actor David Tennant and cycling enthusiast Ben Bradshaw MP have backed the Guild’s anti-sexual harassment campaign.

The Guild launched a new campaign at The Lemmy on Saturday to challenge sexual harassment against men and women.

The #NeverOK campaign, aims to inform people exactly what sexual harassment is and that unwelcome sexual advances are always unacceptable.

The campaign is also encouraging people to sign the #NeverOK pledge to support the belief that no one should have to put up with sexual harassment or made to feel uncomfortable by another individual.

The Guild says sexual harassment can happen on campus, in bars, on public transport or online, and includes anything from unwanted groping to wolf whistling from both strangers and friends.

It defines harassment as “anything that leaves another person feeling uncomfortable”.

Literally anything.

Doctor Who?

The University already offers trained Harassment Advisors that can be spoken to in confidence and other support services, such as an anonymous online forum.

However, they claim most harassment still goes unreported.

The campaign then asks both men and women to sign the #NeverOK pledge in order to “challenge the behaviours around them”.

Sophie, a Biology third-year said: “I think it’s great that the Guild is being proactive with this because it’s very easy to slip into the assumption that this sort of thing doesn’t go on in Exeter, when in reality harassment is happening all around us”.

Members of the AU also show their support for the campaign

However, not everyone is convinced that the campaign goes far enough.

Mia, an English second-year and FemSoc member, said “Though it’s brilliant that the university is starting to look at the issue of sexual harassment in more detail, it still just seems to be way of dealing with the problem after it’s happened, rather than actually doing anything to stop it in the first place.

“Also, the pledge involves committing ‘to educate myself and other’s about sexual harassment’. Wouldn’t a more effective campaign strategy involve getting the uni, an educational institution, to help teach everyone instead?”

You can get more information on the campaign and sign the pledge here.