Bath Spa University
Bath Spa University has campuses in the city of Bath and in Corsham Court in Wiltshire.
We ranked all 29 universities in the south of England against the following best practice criteria to assess how well each institution raises awareness of help available to survivors and encourages them to report. Other marks are given for campaigns and extra measures which show the university’s engagement with preventing and responding to sexual assault. Each received a mark out of 5.
- Anonymous form: At the time of publication, Bath Spa University does not have an anonymous reporting form*, but intend on launching a ‘Report and Support’ platform. They said: “in the interim, the Student Support web pages contain information and links to a referral form for student support.”
- Campaigns: The university has a ‘Sexual Harassment & Violence Steering Group’ and have launched the ‘#NeverOK’ campaign in partnership with their students’ union and the University of Bath Students’ Union. The students’ union has also implemented the ‘Ask for Angela’ campaign which uses a safe word to assist those who feel unsafe to be able to receive help.
- Sexual assault advice page: The university has little public-facing information about sexual assault support, however, a spokesperson for Bath Spa University said the information is available on the student intranet.
- External contacts: There is not a list of charities or helplines on the university’s website for survivors, however, according to the university, this information is on the student intranet with the advice pages.
- Other measures: The university said they hold awareness sessions around sexual consent for every new student during induction this year. They also intend on implementing ‘Bystander Intervention Training’ for the next academic year, which educates students on how they can intervene in instances of sexual violence.
*As such, a point has not been awarded for this.
Mark: 4/5
Header Image: Bath Spa University CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.