University of Portsmouth
The University of Portsmouth is situated in the city of Portsmouth, Hampshire, 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: As part of the ‘Speak Up Step Up’ campaign (outlined below), there is a page where people may “record an incident of harassment, bullying, discrimination or violence” anonymously. This can be used by students who want to report their own experience, or an incident they have witnessed or been told about by a friend.
- Campaigns: Portsmouth currently support ‘Speak Up Step Up’, which began during freshers week to promote and educate students on consent. Over the year different issues are spotlighted with the aim of building a culture of “dignity and respect”.
- Sexual assault advice page: There is a support web page which lists the student wellbeing service as a point of contact as well as a number of other local services. Interestingly, a link to how to deal with anger was also listed as a recourse for sexual assault victims.
- External contacts: The ‘Step Up Speak Up’ page has contact details for Portsmouth Abuse and Rape Counselling Service, the police and the nearest sexual assault referral centre.
- Other measures: The university is implementing the Universities UK Changing the Culture recommendations with money received from the Higher Education Funding Council of England (HEFCE). This includes ‘Bystander Intervention Training’ for students, and staff training with the local rape crisis service.
Mark: 5/5*
*The university is yet to respond to our findings to confirm.
Header image: Editor5807 or CC BY 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons