Tackling Harassment and Sexual Misconduct

If you experience anything at all that makes you feel uncomfortable and you would like to tell someone about it, please disclose this to us so that we can support you. As a university, we encourage those who have experienced unwelcome behaviour to report it. We support our students and our staff, and we want to work with you to find the best options for you, moving forward. We will never pressure you to take any action, and we want you to feel heard.

Experiencing any kind of abuse can be distressing and confusing. Whether it happened recently, in the past, or is happening now, finding help and support to think through your next steps and options is important. Our supporting and reporting options are also there for those who have witnessed such actions.

Students can disclose how they have been affected by harassment and sexual misconduct using the University’s reporting tools below:

Report a hate crime

Disclose of Sexual misconduct, Domestic Abuse, Honour Based Abuse and Stalking/harassment

Our specialist advisors can discuss options for support from the University with you and/or other specialist organisations, and reporting options (this could include reporting to the University or the Police).

The University has specialist Sexual and Domestic Abuse Advisors based in Student Wellbeing, whose roles are to support students who have past or present experiences of sexual misconduct, domestic abuse, stalking and harassment.

Advisors in the Student Support Centre can provide advice and guidance on support and reporting to those who experience Hate Crimes.

Students facing allegations will be encouraged to access the support available to them from Student Wellbeing, Student Support or the Students’ Union Advice Centre.

Further information about support options are available on the Student Services webpages: 

Sexual misconduct, domestic abuse, stalking & harassment support – Student Services

Bullying and Harassment – Student Services

Hate crime – Student Services

If you are a staff member experiencing harassment or sexual misconduct you can access further information and support through the following resources:

• Employee Assistance Programme: Offers counselling, advice and an information service. Learn more here.
• Bullying and Harassment Policy: Provides detailed guidelines and procedures. Access the policy here.
• Concern Line: Enables staff to report concerns anonymously. Access Concern Line here.

There are a range of options which students have for reporting concerns.

Our online reporting tools is normally a helpful starting point. Our specialist advisors will pick up these reports, support you and talk to you about the options available to you in confidence. This helps you to make an informed decision on the steps you might wish to take. The tools are linked below:

Report a hate crime

Disclose of Sexual misconduct, Domestic Abuse, Honour Based Abuse and Stalking/harassment

The University can still offer support regardless of whether you wish to progress a case, or where the University determines a report is not in scope of its Regulations.

No Contact/Protection Orders

Sometimes, those who experience harassment and/or sexual misconduct just want these behaviours to stop, and wish to have no further disciplinary action taken against the reported person.

Under the Student Conduct and Disciplinary Regulations, authorised staff have the power to issue No Contact/Protection Orders, which are mutual agreements designed to prevent further incidents occurring. These are often highly effective, and they do not prevent individuals who might experience further issues from bringing these to the University’s attention.

Police

If any allegations constitute an offence under criminal law, students will be supported to report these matters to the Police.

If a matter is reported to the Police then the University can normally rely on the findings to inform its decision-making under its own process. This is important, as the University does not have the same investigatory authority as the police, or the authority to prove whether a criminal act has or hasn’t occurred.

The University benefits from the support of a Campus Police Officer based in Student Wellbeing, who can support students to explore what a report to the police might look like, and whether this is right for them.

Student Disciplinary Investigation

The Student Conduct and Disciplinary Regulations provide the option for the University to investigate reports of alleged misconduct against a student, which includes allegations of harassment and/or sexual misconduct.

More information can be found in the Student Conduct and Disciplinary Regulations.

Student Complaints

The Student Complaint Regulations provide the option for the University to investigate reports by students of alleged harassment and/or sexual misconduct by a member of staff.

More information can be found in the Student Complaint Regulations.

The University gives due regard and places significant weight on the importance of freedom of speech within the law, academic freedom and tolerance for controversial views in an education context or environment, including in premises and situations where educational services, events and debates take place. It shall apply a ‘rebuttable presumption’ to the effect that students being exposed to any of the following is unlikely to amount to harassment:

A. the content of our course materials, including but not limited to books, videos, sound recordings, and pictures;

B. statements made and views expressed by a person as part of teaching, research or discussions about any subject matter which is connected with the content of our courses

Anonymous reporting

Anonymous reporting allows students to raise issues without disclosing their identity.

Anonymous reports will be reviewed and used to identify trends and to improve support services. However, due to the nature of anonymous reports, the University’s ability to respond to specific incidents or provide direct support to the reporting individual can be limited.

You can also report incidents online either anonymously or with contact details for support by clicking on our online reporting link.

The Student Conduct and Disciplinary Regulations set out the University’s approach to investigating allegations of harassment and sexual misconduct against students. 

The Student Complaints Regulations set out the University’s approach to investigating allegations of harassment and sexual misconduct made by students against staff. Where such a complaint is substantiated, action under the Staff Disciplinary Policy will be considered. 

The above regulations define harassment and sexual misconduct and set out how we ensure investigations are undertaken fairly, the timescales and stages involved, including how we make decisions, determine potential outcomes and appeal options.  

Procedural Fairness: The Principles of Natural Justice 

The principles of natural justice are fundamental to our investigative processes. This means individuals have: 

i. The right to know the case against them (and often, by whom); 

ii. The right to be given opportunity to respond to such a case; 

iii. The right for the case to be treated confidentially; 

iv. The right for their case to be adjudicated on by someone impartial. 

Decision-Making: The Balance of Probabilities 

The University makes decisions on cases using the balance of probabilities. This means we make decisions based on whether an incident was more likely than not to have occurred, based on the evidence provided. 

In accordance with the Student Conduct and Disciplinary Regulations and the Student Complaints Regulations, the University commits to provide students who raise allegations of harassment or sexual misconduct with an outcome of the investigation and/or an explanation of any actions that the University has taken, or not taken, to the extent that data protection legislation permits. This includes ensuring that students are kept updated where an outcome which relates to them is changed, for any reason. 

As the University has an obligation to both the reporting individual and the individual who has had an allegation made against them, this means that it may only be possible for the University to provide limited information, depending on the circumstances.  

We are committed to creating a culture where students feel confident about and safe disclosing information about harassment and sexual misconduct. 

We will take all reasonable steps to ensure the information which individuals disclose to us is treated sensitively. However, there may be circumstances (e.g. in order to protect an individual at risk) where we are required to share information with other agencies or to share information internally. 

When students decide to make a report to the University for investigation under its Student Conduct and Disciplinary Regulations or the Student Complaints Regulations, they will be made aware that it will be necessary to share information about their report with relevant parties to ensure fair investigation of the matters concerned.  Similarly, we shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that students who have reports made about them have their information handled carefully. 

Further details about how we handle information can be found: 

Within our Student Wellbeing Centre Privacy Notice for information shared in relation to support and advice on reporting options. 

Within our Student Contention Privacy Notice for information shared as part of the University’s formal investigative processes. 

The University commits to a set of activities to ensure students understand what harassment and sexual misconduct are, the support available to them, what consent is and how to intervene effectively when they have concerns. 

1. From August 2025 students must complete mandatory RAISE (Respect, Awareness, Inclusion, Safety and Empowerment) training online, which aims to ensure they understand and feel confident making a stand against harassment and sexual misconduct. The training was developed by experts in our Student Wellbeing team in conjunction with our Students’ Union. As the training is mandatory, support will be provided to those who might find it difficult to complete for any reason, but disciplinary action explored when there is evident unwillingness to complete the training. We ask students to evaluate the training for us, to ensure we continue to improve it and make a meaningful impact on the issue of harassment and sexual misconduct. 
2. We expect good conduct from University of Lincoln students. All students agree to adhere to the Terms and Conditions of Admission, which include the University’s Student Conduct and Disciplinary Regulations when they enrol and re-enrol each year. These Regulations set out the expectations of student behaviour and potential consequences when the Regulations are breached. 
3. We, as a university, are One Community and strive to be kind, patient, and supportive of each other. Our One Community Values define our One Community ethos and are a framework to ensure that respectful and inclusive behaviours should be at the heart of all we do. Our One Community values are: Equality, Understanding, Listening, Kindness and Acceptance.  
4. In conjunction with our Students’ Union we run various campaigns to promote awareness of the issues relating to harassment and sexual misconduct to our staff, students and wider University Community. 

To ensure students and members of staff can achieve their full potential, the University is committed to ensuring that everyone can work and participate in University life without fear of harassment or sexual misconduct:  

1. Staff are responsible for ensuring they complete and remain up to date with all mandatory training.  
2. Some staff members are required to undergo additional training. This includes staff responsible for taking disclosures from students, undertaking investigations and making decisions about disciplinary cases. The training outlines the relevant policies and procedures in place at the University. The Department of People, Performance and Culture also run more bespoke training to support staff need throughout the academic year. 
3. In conjunction with our Students’ Union we run various campaigns to promote awareness of the issues relating to harassment and sexual misconduct to our staff, students and wider University Community. 

The University recognises that personal relationships between members of the University community exist in many and varied forms. Most social, personal and professional relationships will be beneficial, promoting valued working practices and positive academic relationships. 

We are, however, committed to protecting students from potential or actual conflicts of interest and/or abuses of power which may arise from personal relationships with staff. Our Staff / Students Relationships Policy bans intimate personal relationships between staff and students, except for pre-existing relationships which must be declared in order that any conflicts of interest can be managed. 

The University of Lincoln has never used non-disclosure agreements in relation to student allegations of harassment and sexual misconduct. 

The Office for Students has prohibited universities from using NDAs in relation to student allegations of harassment and sexual misconduct since September 2024. 

The University’s Senior Leadership Team and its Board of Governors are committed to the endeavour required to tackle harassment and sexual misconduct. We believe the combination of the below steps will make a significant and credible difference in protecting students from behaviour that may amount to harassment and/or sexual misconduct: 

1. Publishing an annual report on data relating to the prevalence of harassment and sexual misconduct, and where reported to the University for formal investigation, the outcomes of those processes. 
2. Ensuring that evaluation of our approach and online training is regularly undertaken in conjunction with students, the Students’ Union and our staff, and that we act to make change where appropriate. 
3. Consulting with our Students’ Union on development of the policies and regulations relevant to student harassment and sexual misconduct, with students represented on the committees where these policies and regulations are considered and approved. 

Student Wellbeing

T: 01522 886400

E: studentwellbeing@lincoln.ac.uk

Student Support

T: 01522 837080

E: studentsupport@lincoln.ac.uk

Students’ Union Advice Centre

T: 01522 837000

E: advice@lincolnsu.com