Following the first research on the prevalence of domestic and sexual violence across UK universities by the National Union of Students (2010), there has been an increasing focus on these issues within university communities over the last few years.
In response to the mounting research evidence, we established a task force of academics, support staff, and students (facilitated by the Eleanor Glanville Centre) at the University of Lincoln in 2017 to examine our existing responses to gender-based violence (GBV). Following a review of existing UoL policies and research on best practice across the sector, the task force made recommendations for developing policy and practices for reporting GBV incidents and on the provision of appropriate support mechanisms.
We are pleased to launch the new University of Lincoln policy on gender-based violence, which covers all staff and students.
Academic leads on the task force, Professor Sundari Anitha and Dr Ana Jordan (along with Nicola Chanamuto), are currently conducting a sector-wide review of GBV policies across UK universities, in research funded by the College of Social Science Research Fund. The analysis will enable the development of recommendations on constructing effective policies for practitioners and contribute to academic debates on GBV and policy analysis.
The policy was approved in June 2019, and can be found on the HR website: https://cpb-eu-w2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/dist/b/8238/files/2019/11/Policy-on-Preventing-and-Responding-to-Gender-Based-Violence-FINAL.pdf