Tackling violence, harassment and hate incidents 2022

Room: Woburn Hall

Professor Steve West CBE, Vice-Chancellor, President and Chief Executive Officer, University of West England, and President, Universities UK 

• Amy Norton, Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Office for Students

• Natasha Dhumma, Campaigns Director UK & England, National Union of Students (NUS) 

• Peter Chesworth, Deputy Chief Executive, Universities Australia

• Dr Carrie-Anne Myers, Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Sociology, City University of London 

Valid and reliable data are critical to tackling harassment. Data helps us to see and understand the problem, inform policy and practice, and target interventions effectively. This session will explore different methods to better understand students’ experiences of harassment in all its forms.

• Professor David Richardson, Vice-Chancellor, University of East Anglia and Chair, Advisory group on tackling racial harassment, Universities UK  

Professor Richardson will share reflections on the sector’s progress in tackling racial harassment following the launch of UUK's guidance to tackle racial harassment in 2020 and explore where next for the sector. 

• Ruth McNee, Head of Business Development, Crimestoppers Trust  

• Niamh Kerr, Training and Education Coordinator for Colleges and Universities, Rape Crisis Scotland 

This session is an opportunity to hear about some the leading initiatives and campaigns across the UK that are focused on raising awareness of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and how these can support the higher education sector.

Room: Tavistock Room

• Mick Confrey, Chief Operations Officer, Intersol Global

This session will be a practical and insightful session on good practice in managing investigations. It will address challenges in managing the investigation process and explore methods that can be used to conduct investigations effectively, even in the most complex cases.  

Room: Woburn Hall

• David Malpas, Director of Student Affairs, Middlesex University  

• Professor Kristin Aune, Professor of Sociology of Religion, Coventry University  

• Dr James Walters, Director, Faith Centre and Chaplain and Senior Lecturer in Practice, London School of Economics  

• Chair: Sarah Bevan, Policy Researcher, Universities UK  

This panel discussion will address how institutions can create religiously inclusive cultures for students of all faiths and none. From building good relations to co-creating initiatives with students, discussion will provide positive solutions for preventing and responding to religious and faith-based harassment on campus.  

Room: Foster and Bloomsbury

• Sundari Anitha, Professor of Gender, Violence and Work, College of Social Science, University of Lincoln and member, Sexual violence task group, University and College Union (UCU) 

• Ruth Levin, Senior national education officer, Unison

• Chair: Margaret Ayers, Vice Chair, UHR and Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development, Canterbury Christ Church University  

In this session, we’ll hear from different employers and unions on how to tackle all forms of harassment in the workplace. This will include the outcomes from a report from UCU’s sexual violence task group.

Room: Boardroom

Room: Tavistock Room

• Julian Sladdin, Partner, Pinsent Masons

• Chair: Nicola Bradfield, Group Director, Legal Services, Coventry University

It is now over 5 years since UUK and Pinsent Masons published guidance on ‘How to handle alleged student misconduct which may also constitute a criminal offence'. In this session, you can hear some reflections from Pinsent Masons and have the opportunity to offer your own feedback, and any lessons learned, on the implementation of the guidance.

Room: Foster and Bloomsbury

• Dr Arun Verma, Head of Race Equality Charter, Advance HE  

• Clare Matysova, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Manager, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

• Jordan Lewis, Race Equality Adviser, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine 

• Saadia Abubaker, Student, Swansea University and Community Consultant, Race Equality Action Plan (REAP) for Wales  

• Chair: Professor David Richardson, Vice-Chancellor, University of East Anglia and Chair, Advisory group on tackling racial harassment, Universities UK  

Building on the earlier address from Professor David Richardson, this panel discussion will share reflections and practical case studies on their efforts to tackle racism and racial harassment in the past two years and explore what more could and should be done to deliver change.

Room: Woburn Hall

• Dr Stephanie Mckendry, Head of Access, Equality and Inclusion, University of Strathclyde
• Chair: Fiona Waye, Policy Manager, Universities UK 

Issues that transgender and non-binary staff and students face are complex. This session will explore the latest thinking and development in this area with specific reference to protecting and supporting our transgender and non-binary communities to feel safe and included on our campuses. 

Room: Boardroom  

Room: Tavistock Room

Room: Woburn Hall

Professor Debra Humphris, Vice-Chancellor, University of Brighton  

• Professor Cara Aitchison, President and Vice-Chancellor, Cardiff Metropolitan University 

• Simmone Ahiaku, Campaigning and Influencing consultant (Liberation), NUS 

• Margaret Ayers, Vice Chair, UHR and Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development, Canterbury Christ Church University 

• Dr Julie Macfarlane, Co-Founder, Can’t Buy My Silence  

Join us to listen to our panel made up of key stakeholders and contributors to discuss the recommendations from UUK’s guidance on addressing staff to student sexual misconduct.

• Professor David Richardson, Vice-chancellor, University of East Anglia and Chair, Data Sharing Stakeholder Group, Universities UK 

• Elizabeth Dunford, Principal Solicitor (Technology/Data Protection), Coventry University

• Clarissa Humphreys, Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Response Manager, Durham University

• Alex Potts, Data Protection and Freedom of Information Officer, UCL

• Nicola Bradfield, Group Director, Legal Services, Coventry University

Following a presentation on the UUK’s guidance to support universities in sharing data in harassment cases, the panel will delve into the implementation of the guidance and what this means for the sector.  

Professor Debra Humphris, Vice-Chancellor, University of Brighton