University of Plymouth

The University of Plymouth is predominantly based in Plymouth, Devon, but has campuses all across the south-west 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 ‘Know The Line’ to cultivate a sexual harassment free zone. However, the last engagement with the campaign’s hashtag on Twitter was February 9th 2016 – over two years ago. The link to sign the pledge on the webpage has also been removed or no longer exists. Therefore, a point has not been awarded for this.
Sexual assault advice page: There is a page dedicated to sexual offences support and advice drop-ins, but the availability and extent to which this support operates seems to be limited. Drop-in sessions are available but happen only once each month.
External contacts: The contact visible on the website is a Sexual Offences
Liaison Officer for Devon and Cornwall police. There are no other details for charities or the local sexual assault referral centre.
Other measures: The university runs an Anytime Advice and Mental Health Support line which students who need urgent support for sexual offences are encouraged to use.

Mark: 3/5*

*The university is yet to respond to our findings to confirm.

University of Plymouth
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