“ When young women experience violence, universities must be ready to support them. ”

Imagine you are eighteen. You have moved away from your parents’ house for the first time. You are enjoying the heady first year of university; you meet lots of new people, you study hard and you party hard. But then someone hurts you; you are scared, you may be injured, and you do not know who to turn to because you are not sure who would understand.

The project Universities Supporting Victims of Sexual Violence, or USVreact for short, wants to ensure that nobody is at a loss for support anymore. “We should prevent all violence against women from happening. But when we can’t, we need to at least be ready to assist those who experience it. In fact, our approach is to focus on how all those – women and men - who experience violence are supported,” explains Gigi Guizzo, based at CEPS Projectes Sociales in Barcelona. Dr Pam Alldred from Brunel University London, project leader of USVreact, emphasises: “Sexual violence happens everywhere, but universities might have a particular responsibility (in the UK we call it a ‚duty of care’) to support students. They might, in fact, also have particular ways they can challenge the social norms and patterns of behaviour that give rise to sexual violence – they are, after all, learning communities. This is why education for social change is important. For me, it covers everything from education about sexual consent, legal rights, and the consequences of sexual violence, to instruction on how best to support someone who has experienced it.”

Pam, Gigi and Professor Alison Phipps, who is a leader in the field of research on sexual violence among university students, teamed up with partners in six other universities and secured funding from the European Commission for USVreact to commence in 2016. For two years, the project will run in the UK, Greece, Spain, Italy and Latvia, developing free training resources for universities and their staff.

Implemented at the initiating institutions as well as an additional 15 associate partners (universities, local councils and support organisations), USVreact has set itself the task to find out how universities are already providing support for those who have experienced violence and to provide training materials so that all university staff can learn what to do when they hear of cases of violence or harassment. Each participating university will pilot the materials with 80 of its own staff, then evaluate and fine-tune them.

An example from Brunel University shows the breadth of the project’s target group: “I am a librarian,” says James Langridge, “but lots of others in the university community, such as administrators, security guards, lecturers, Students’ Union staff, have received training. The point is that all university staff need to know how to respond when someone confides in them that they have experienced violence. We learn how to make survivors feel believed and supported and foster the openness and empathy which facilitate disclosures.” Mick Jenkins, who is Head of Security, confirmed the importance of the programme: “Security staff, for instance in halls of residence, chat to the students a lot. Issues of violence, especially sexual violence, can be an intimidating topic to have to deal with, but after the training, our security staff will feel well prepared should anyone need support.”

Students at the universities also feel the benefit of the initiative – even when they haven’t (yet) attended a training session. A young woman from Brunel University London recently said to Pam: “It is great to know that you are doing what you are doing. Living and studying on a campus where the topic of sexual violence is addressed head-on in this way, meaning that everyone is aware of it and willing to support those who might be affected, makes it a safer and positive place for me and my friends.”