Sexual Violence and Sexual Misconduct
This page contains detailed information about sexual violence, domestic abuse, so called “honour-based abuse”, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, hate crime, discrimination, bullying, harassment, stalking, spiking and terrorism. The content may be distressing or harmful to audiences.
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If you are affected by any of the information and would like support, please contact studentservices@chester.ac.uk or call 01244 511 550.
Sexual misconduct and violence can affect anyone – regardless of your age, sex, gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation. It is important to know that it is not your fault and no one ever deserves it. No matter where you were, what you were wearing, if you were drinking or under the influence of drugs, it is not your fault, and we can support you.
If you have experienced any form of sexual misconduct and/or sexual violence, or know somebody that has, we hope the information on this page will be useful.
What is Sexual Violence?
Sexual violence is an umbrella term for any unwanted sexual act or activity. It is important to know that it is not your fault, and no one ever deserves it. No matter where you were, what you were doing, what you were wearing, if you were drunk or under the influence of drugs, it is not your fault.
Below are different types of sexual violence:
Rape in the UK is defined in law as penetration with a penis of the vagina, anus, or mouth of another person without their consent.
Sexual assault is when a person touches another person in a sexual manner, either underneath or on top of clothing, without that person’s consent, or persuades/forces a person to engage with a sexual act against their will. Assault by penetration is when someone intentionally penetrates the vagina or anus of another person with another part of the body or anything else in a sexual manner without consent.
Sexual harassment is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature. It can be anything that violates your dignity, makes you feel intimated, degraded, or humiliated and creates a hostile or offensive environment.
Examples of this behaviour include gesturing or making remarks about someone’s body, clothing, or appearance, asking questions about someone’s sex life, telling sexually offensive jokes, sending emails, text or messages of a sexual nature, displaying pornographic or sexual images on computers, phones, posters, calendars etc.
So-called revenge porn or image-based abuse is the sharing of private, sexual materials either as photos or videos to another person without their consent and with the purpose of causing embarrassment or distress. Sometimes the images contain personal information including addresses, names, and links to social media accounts. This is a criminal offence and can be reported to the police.
Sexual abuse (including child sexual abuse) is when someone is forced, pressurised, or tricked into taking part in any kind of sexual activity with another person. This may include, but is not limited to:
- Being touched in a way you do not like without giving permission or consent.
- Someone flashing or exposing themselves to you online or offline.
- Being forced to have sex (intercourse), look at sexual pictures or videos, do something sexual, or watch someone do something sexual.
Trafficking is where someone is recruited, transported, or coerced for the purpose of sexual exploitation, slavery or forced labour.
Sexual exploitation (including child sexual exploitation) is when you are pressured into having sex with someone in return for getting something like gifts, drugs, money, affection or status. Children are often tricked into thinking they are in a loving and consensual relationship.
Sexual Misconduct
You may hear the term 'sexual misconduct' used at universities.
Sexual misconduct is any unwanted or attempted unwanted conduct of a sexual nature, including (but not limited to) sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape. Sexual misconduct may involve misuse and/or abuse of power or raise issues of unequal relationships between students and staff. Sexual misconduct includes conduct that takes place online.
'Sexual misconduct' goes against the University’s Student Code of Conduct. Such behaviours may also constitute a criminal offence.
All students agree to the Code of Conduct on their enrolment at the University. If you choose to report sexual misconduct on the part of another student this will be dealt with under the Student Disciplinary Procedure If you choose to report sexual misconduct by a member of staff this will be dealt with under the Staff Disciplinary Policy and Procedure
The Code of Conduct states:
"Under no circumstances will the University tolerate any behaviour that amounts to an offence against a person including, but not limited to, assault, sexual assault or sexual violence, domestic violence or discrimination or harassment of any kind, whether verbal or physical and in any form or medium, including in any online space or context; such misconduct will be dealt with severely."
Reporting options
The Sexual Violence Liaison Officer service (SVLO)
We understand that seeking advice and support for sexual assault can be a difficult and personal decision, which is why we have established the Sexual Violence Liaison Officer (SVLO) Service to support students who have experienced sexual violence.
The SVLO Service is a non-emergency service that supports any student who has experienced any form of sexual violence. It doesn't matter if the incident/s happened before you started university, didn't involve another student, or took place off university premises – an SVLO will be available to support you through your next steps.
Marginalised groups and people with intersectional experiences may face additional barriers to accessing support. The SVLO service recognise this and believes it is important to make it explicitly clear that we can support:
- Students of all ages
- Students with DSDs or Differences of Sex Development
- Students with disabilities
- Students from all ethnic backgrounds
- Students identifying as LGBTQIA+
- Students that are male or female
- Students that are neurodivergent
- Students identifying as non-binary or gender fluid
- Students from all religious backgrounds, including no religion
The only students who can't access the service are those studying abroad or outside of the UK. This is due to logistics, and if a student did contact the service for support whilst abroad, we would make sure they were redirected appropriately.
Please see here for our Sexual Violence Information and Support guide
You can access the SVLO service by:
- Emailing: report@chester.ac.uk
- Submitting a report online: Report a Concern
- Calling: 01244 511550. If you would like to report an incident of sexual violence to the University, but do not wish to be identified or contacted, please see Report anonymously.
If you do not want to meet with an SVLO, the Wellbeing and Mental Health team can provide confidential advice and support for you and other students who may have been affected by an incident of sexual violence. You can make contact by emailing: studentservices@chester.ac.uk. Please be aware Student Services operates between the hours of 9am-5pm Monday- Thursday and 9am-4pm on Fridays.
If you are on campus you can contact the University security team on 01244 511541 outside of those hours for immediate support.
Reporting to the Police
An SVLO can discuss and explain the process of reporting to the police or you can report directly to the police yourself.
Please see here to find out how to report to Cheshire Police, and other information regarding reporting.
You can find your local Police Station here.
External Support
Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARC)
SARC’s are specialist medical and forensic services for anyone that has experienced sexual violence. You can access their service at any point after experiencing sexual violence, however some of their support is time sensitive.
The closest SARC’s to the University of Chester are:
Rape Crisis Centres
Whilst the name of these services may feel uncomfortable or daunting, they play a huge part in supporting victims and survivors of sexual violence. These centres provide free, local support and services including counselling, pre-trial therapy and group wellbeing activities. The services offered vary depending on your location.