University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is is based in Oxford, in the south of England.
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: There is no evidence online for an anonymous means of reporting sexual assault.
- Campaigns: The university ran the ‘It Happens Here’ campaign which works with the wider community to make Oxford a safe place. In 2015, students developed an app which supports survivors of sexual violence.
- Sexual assault advice page: There is a web page dedicated to sexual violence, detailing next steps and advice in retaining and preserving evidence.
- External contacts: On the same web page, details for the local sexual assault referral centre is available. In their ‘Equality and Diversity’ pages they also list a number of confidential support agencies near the university.
- Other measures: Oxford students’ union has been running consent workshops since 2011, the workshops originally began as discussion groups and have since developed into a more formal format and are compulsory for undergraduates.
Mark: 4/5
A spokesperson for the university said: “We see the number of students now coming forward to disclose or report incidents as reflecting the progress made … We now have more than 380 voluntary harassment advisors right across the University, trained to support students”.