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Reclaim the Campus Campaign

THE RECLAIM REPORT

In June 2021 we finished our report. A piece of work which was a result of months of research where we examined university policies of 41 institutions - many of which were our own. At the end of the month we launched and published this report. It can be accessed and discussed by emailing reclaimthecampus2020@gmail.com

A special thank you to ProtectED for their support and guidance on this piece of work. 

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(June, 2020) CAMPAIGN group Reclaim The Campus release report into UK universities sexual misconduct policy that reveals damning inconsistencies and lack of proficient policy across institutions.


The report reveals the findings of research into 41 UK universities’ and their policies on sexual misconduct. The report is a result of months of research and campaign work coordinated online throughout the pandemic. Assessments were made based on whether the university had a specific policy on sexual misconduct, whether procedures and sanctions were clearly outlined and whether they had sufficient consent workshops and support on campus. Analysis also included focus on intersectionality and effective enforcement of policies. 


The report has been written by a group of students and recent graduates, who came together as a result of shared experience and shared frustration about the persistence and prevalence of rape culture on their university campuses. Founder of the campaign, Nky, says:


“One thing that has underpinned our work on the project, and eventual report, is the question of whether we are qualified to produce it. Some may critique us as being under qualified or ill experienced and in some ways I would not disagree. Reclaim The Campus came about due to the failures of those who are employed to do what we are attempting – university staff and policy makers who have been unsuccessful, if they have even attempted to try and address these issues. Not only is our campaign student led but in a large part it is survivor led, as many of us had our studies and experiences of university impacted by rape culture, if not acts of sexual violence themselves. Frustration, trauma, disappointment, all informing our reasons to form a campaign and attempt to make change.”


Another campaign member, Josie Hart, stressed the importance of the research saying that:


“The scale of this issue just doesn’t align with the policy universities have in place on sexual harassment and assault. Research by the Revolt Report reveals that over half of students have experienced sexual assault or harassment and my experience, having recently left university, is that everyone knows this to be an issue. It’s upsetting that universities are too concerned with their reputation to do more and cooperate with the policy guidelines that have been created by advisory bodies”. 


The UK government currently does not hold universities to a standard when it comes to sexual misconduct policy. The advisory body Universities UK, along with the law firm, Pinsent Masons, have created a set of guidelines for universities to have in place although few have enforced these guidelines. 


The campaign group hope that the launch of their report will attract attention from university officials, start conversations and lead to opportunities to work on policy reformation with universities. They will also be working on student experience data collection and research into other Higher Education institutions in the coming months. 

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