Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of reports by university students of sexual assaults taking place on campus; and how many such reports there have been in (a) 2015, (b) 2016 and (c) 2017 to date.

The department does not hold information regarding the number of reports by university students of sexual assaults taking place on campus.

Government takes any form of violence and sexual harassment, including in higher education, extremely seriously. That is why we asked Universities UK (UUK) to set up a sexual violence and harassment taskforce. The Taskforce published their report ‘Changing the Culture’ in October 2016: http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Documents/2016/changing-the-culture.pdf.

Government expects institutions to take a proactive response to sexual harassment and ensuring that students feel confident and able to report any issues.

The Taskforce also undertook a review of the ‘Zellick Guidelines’ on how higher education institutions should handle student misconduct which may constitute a criminal offence and published new guidelines alongside the report: http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Documents/2016/guidance-for-higher-education-institutions.pdf.

The Taskforce’s report raises that underreporting of harassment incidents can often be an issue and clearly sets out the need for institutions to break down barriers to reporting, and ensure that clear, accessible and robust reporting mechanisms are in place. As the report makes clear, low numbers of disclosures do not necessarily mean that incidents do not occur, and this is a factor to consider when making judgments on any changes in levels of disclosure.

To support this work, the department has asked the Higher Education Funding Council to prioritise working with UUK in 2017-2018 on these important issues, including surveying the sector’s progress to make sure universities are doing all they can to protect the safety and security of their students. This will be reported on in due course.

Meanwhile, they have provided over £4 million funding for projects to tackle harassment and hate crime. This includes £2.45 million for projects addressing concerns about sexual violence and harassment.