• Home
• News and Updates
• New CUC Guidance for Chairs and Governing Bodies: Tackling Harassment and Sexual Misconduct

New CUC Guidance for Chairs and Governing Bodies: Tackling Harassment and Sexual Misconduct

18^th May 2022

Reports of harassment and sexual violence in universities continue to grow despite mitigating actions taken by universities to prevent and address issues arising. Evidence of harassment in universities is not new and testimonies on the ‘Everyone’s Invited’ website clearly highlight the need for universities to do more.

Universities have a moral and legal imperative to tackle both harassment and sexual violence. All universities have a zero-tolerance approach to harassment and aim to ensure that students and staff have a safe and positive experience at university. Despite this, and significant levels of investment in this area, universities are often criticised for a lack of action and ineffective systems, policies, and procedures, to support staff and students in reporting and disclosing incidents.

There is no doubt that tackling harassment and sexual misconduct is complex and in addressing issues, universities face multiple challenges and often find themselves dealing with complex and in some cases conflicting legislation. If universities are to successfully address issues and reduce case numbers the need for continued senior leadership and strong governance in this area is crucial.

Governing bodies have a key role to play in providing leadership to their institution and in creating a culture that ensures universities become safe places to live, work, and study for both staff and students. With this in mind, the CUC has developed a guide to provide practical support to governors in leading and managing harassment and sexual misconduct in their universities. More specifically it aims to:

• highlight the role and obligations of university governing boards;
• offer support on leading strategies for addressing misconduct, harassment, and hate incidents in university settings; and
• be both a motivational and practical resource to instigate the changes needed to tackle this critical agenda.

The guidance has been produced with the support of OfS and UUK and has benefited from consultation with CUC members and other professionals working in the sector.

The CUC is grateful to all those members of CUC and other stakeholders that have contributed their time and expertise to this work and we sincerely hope that the work is beneficial to you and your Institution.