Prevent and address harassment and sexual misconduct
Definitions
We have adopted the definitions on this page because they are well known and ensure consistency. But they do not create a requirement for a provider to use a criminal standard of proof in its own internal investigations.
To protect students in a consistent way, we have agreed definitions of harassment and sexual misconduct.
The policies and procedures universities and colleges put in place should use these definitions to identify the issues they need to address.
'Harassment'
We follow the meaning given to harassment in:
We have summarised section 26 of the Equality Act 2010 as follows:
‘harassment, including sexual harassment, includes unwanted behaviour or conduct which has the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment because of, or connected to, one or more of the following protected characteristics: age; disability; gender reassignment; race; religion or belief; sex; and sexual orientation.’
We have summarised section 1 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 as follows:
‘a course of conduct conducted on at least two occasions that harasses one other person, or a course of conduct that harasses two or more persons at least once each. References to harassing a person include alarming the person or causing the person distress.’
We have also extended these definitions to include harassment of one student by another student.
These definitions include tests that are designed to establish, objectively and reasonably, whether conduct could be considered as 'harassment'.
This means providers should take into account:
- the perception of the person who is at the receiving end of the conduct
- the other circumstances of the case
- whether it is reasonable for the conduct to have the effect under scrutiny.
Under section 1 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, an offence is committed only if:
- the person knows the conduct amounts to harassment of the other, or
- a reasonable person in possession of the same information would think the course of conduct amounted to harassment of the other person.
'Sexual misconduct'
We define sexual misconduct as any unwanted or attempted unwanted conduct of a sexual nature. This includes, but is not limited to:
- sexual harassment
- sexual assault; and
- rape.
Last updated 31 July 2024 + show all updates
31 July 2024 - We have updated the page following publication of our new condition of registration.
09 May 2023 - The consultation on a new approach to regulating harassment and sexual misconduct in English higher education is now closed
23 February 2023 - Details of the consultation on a new approach to regulating harassment and sexual misconduct in English higher education, and the pilot prevalence survey published
10 November 2022 - Independent evaluation of the statement of expectations published, and details of next steps
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