Sexual Harassment and Misconduct
Any form of sexual harassment, misconduct, assault, or abuse is never okay and will not be tolerated by the University of Bradford.
Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is unwanted and unwelcome words, conduct, or behaviour of a sexual nature that has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, embarrassing, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for the recipient. It is a misuse of personal or institutional power and often based on a person’s gender, although it is rarely about sexual desire. Harassment can amount to both a single incident as well as or persistent behaviour.
Sexual harassment can range from behaviour that would be obvious to most people, or subtler behaviour that is less obvious, including sometimes to either the person responsible for the behaviour or to the recipient.
Sexual harassment can include but is not limited to:
- Catcalling, the act of shouting a loud, sexually suggestive, threatening, or harassing call or remark.
- Making unnecessary and unwanted physical contact.
- Sexual jokes and comments. about a person’s sex life and/or sexuality.
- Wolf-whistling, whistled sound made to show sexual interest in someone.
- Displaying or sharing sexual material through emails, visual images through social media.
Sexual abuse and harassment factsheet
Sexual Misconduct
Sexual misconduct is unacceptable behaviour of a sexual nature. It can include sexual harassment; sexual violence; intimate partner violence; sexual assault; grooming; coercion or bullying with sexual elements; sexual invitations and demands; comments; non-verbal communication; creation of atmospheres of discomfort; and promised resources or advancement in exchange for sexual access.
We strongly discourage staff from entering into personal relationships with students. When this does occur, we have a policy designed to protect both students and staff from mis-use of power when relationships are formed or there is an existing relationship.
Please see the Code of Professional Conduct for Personal Relationships.
Sexual Assault
Sexual assault is a criminal offence. It involves all intentional and non consented physical contact of a sexual nature. It can range from touching, pinching, embracing, groping, and kissing through to indecent exposure and at its most extreme, sexual violence including rape.
Consent is agreeing by choice and having the freedom and capacity to make that choice.
A person is free to make a choice if nothing bad would happen to them if they said no.
Capacity is about whether someone is physically and/or mentally able to make a choice and to understand the consequences of that choice. If a person is under the influence of alcohol or drugs, their capacity to make a choice may be reduced.
Sexual Abuse or Rape
If you have experienced sexual abuse or rape, there is no right or wrong way to feel or be. What has happened is not your fault and you're not alone. Your safety and wellbeing are the most important things right now and you can access specialist support, if and whenever you feel ready.
Domestic Abuse
Domestic abuse can take many forms, including controlling, coercive, threatening, degrading and violent behaviour and it can also include sexual violence and rape. It also extends to psychological and emotional abuse and financial control. It can also be carried out online as well as in person. In most cases the perpetrator will be a partner or ex-partner, but they may also be a family member or carer. Unfortunately one in four women and one in six men will experience domestic violence or abuse at some point in their lifetime.
Honour Based Abuse
There is currently no statutory definition of Honour Based Abuse in England and Wales, but a common definition has been adopted across government and criminal justice agencies: ‘A crime or incident which has, or may have been, committed to protect or defend the honour of the family and / or community.’
Honour Based Abuse can take many forms, including forced marriage, virginity testing, enforced abortion, female genital mutilation, as well as physical, sexual and economic abuse and coercive control.
For some communities, the concept of ‘honour’ is valued above the safety and wellbeing of individuals. It can lead to a deeply embedded form of coercive control, built on expectations about acceptable and unacceptable behaviours. Doing anything that will go against a family’s ‘honour’, is to bring dishonour and shame. This is sometimes used to justify emotional and physical abuse, disownment and in some cases even murder. Honour based abuse is not acceptable and it is nearly always illegal.