We pride ourselves on providing a supportive, inclusive environment where our staff and students can study, work and live in a community that does not tolerate bullying, harassment, hate and sexual misconduct. As part of our continuing efforts to tackle these issues, we have launched the Report + Support online tool in October 2019.
The introduction of this tool forms part of the Office for Students-funded Hate Crime Project and follows the Hate Experience Survey; which provided invaluable insight on the University community members’ experiences of hate crimes, including their reporting behaviour.
Having recognised the need to address the barriers to reporting incidents, the online tool was set up to provide a centralised platform for students and staff to make an anonymous report and, where contact details are given, obtain support and guidance from a designated staff member.
Apart from being a reporting platform, the tool also contains information on various internal and external sources of support available for students and staff. It also provides information on what other support is available from local and national organisations. We know that people do not always feel comfortable making a report immediately after an incident. The support pages offer information and advice on what options are available to them, even if they then decide not to report.
All staff and students who have experienced an incident can make an anonymous report or a report with contact details. They can also do this on behalf of another student or staff. Visitors can only make an anonymous report. Anyone can use the Support and Campaign pages of the tool.
There are four types of incidents that can be reported: (1) Bullying and harassment, (2) Hate incidents, (3) Sexual misconduct and violence, (4) Domestic abuse and (5) Spiking. These can be based on:
The above list is not exhaustive. If you feel you or someone else is being targeted because of perceived identity, please use the tool to report.
An anonymous report will be used to monitor issues across the University community to help identify appropriate prevention and response interventions.
Reports with contact details will be assigned to a designated member of staff who will contact the reporting party within 24 hours or the next working day, where possible. Only authorised members of staff will have access to information shared through the system.
Reports received through the online tool will be dealt with during normal working hours (9.00am to 5.00pm) Monday to Friday. The Report + Support tool is for non-emergency reports.
If an assault has just taken place and you are not in a safe place, feel at risk, or have any injuries that require urgent attention, please call the emergency services on 999.
Further information about the tool can be found in our frequently asked questions (FAQ) document available here
In addition to the online resources outlined below, we have a suite of printed promotional materials (e.g. Report + Support A4 posters, post cards, drinks mats and roll-up banners) available for staff and students to use. Please contact edi.team@durham.ac.uk to make requests and to arrange collection.
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