Universities urged to act against online harassment

Universities UK, the vice-chancellors’ body in the United Kingdom, has urged universities to take action against online harassment and bullying of students and staff.

In new guidance published on 2 September, it recommended that universities move accountability for tackling online harassment to the senior leadership team and involve students, students’ unions, academics and all staff in the development, implementation and assessment of initiatives to address the problem.

Professor Debra Humphris, chair of Universities UK’s Student Policy Network and vice-chancellor of the University of Brighton, said: “A sustained commitment to cultural change by university leaders is vital if we want to ensure that our universities are safe and positive places to live, work and study.”

The new guidance, Changing the Culture: Tackling online harassment and promoting online welfare, has been published as an extension of Universities UK’s work to help universities tackle harassment, hate crime and gender-based violence.

Social media has a near-universal reach among 16-24 year olds in the UK, with 99% claiming to use it at least weekly (OfCom) and according to Ditch the Label’s annual bullying survey, 69% of all respondents said they had been abusive towards another person online.

While carrying out research for the guidance, developed with the University of Bedfordshire, many universities highlighted the inherent complexity of addressing online harassment as various social media platforms are used extensively by students as part of everyday life.

The guidance includes principles and recommendations for universities including updating partnership agreements, such as the student contract or code of conduct, to include expected behaviours in the online sphere.

Humphris said: “Misuse of social media and other online platforms can leave students exposed to abuse, affecting their mental health and well-being, disrupting their education and potentially impacting on their future employability and career prospects.

“In order to tackle online harassment and cyberbullying, we must consider the specific threats it poses as part of our duty of care to all students. This needs to be acknowledged across institutions as part of strategic work to tackle violence, harassment and hate crime.”

The guidance suggests universities should adopt the term ‘online harassment’ in policies and make clear to staff and students that what can be referred to as ‘cyberbullying’ can constitute harassment or a hate crime.

It calls for universities to implement accessible reporting mechanisms for students to make a disclosure or report.

It also says universities should:

• • Collect data on how online harassment is experienced within the student cohort and provide governing bodies with regular reports on online harassment;
  
  
• • Work with partners, including schools and colleges, to provide early information to students on arrangements to tackle harassment and consequences of inappropriate behaviour online;
  
  
• • Regularly review policies and use tools, such as the University of Suffolk’s higher education online safeguarding self-review tool, to support this;
  
  
• • Encourage staff as role models in championing appropriate online behaviour;
  
  
• • Consider adopting the questions on the National Student Survey relating to student safety.

Dr Emma Short, director of the National Centre for Cyberstalking Research at the University of Bedfordshire and a contributor to the guidance, said: “Universities should not assume that students always recognise abusive online behaviour or feel equipped to respond to it. There is a clear responsibility to safeguard students both from abuse and from the perpetration of abuse through a lack of awareness."

She said the Bedfordshire Cyber Awareness Programme was designed to create a positive culture change, aiming to achieve an increase in understanding about what constitutes unacceptable online behaviour and promote a greater preparedness to seek help when encountering it.

Changes in attitudes achieved

“Our initial findings did indicate a general tolerance of negative behaviours and a minimisation of possible risks, but changes in attitudes following the training were achieved. Most people indicated the course had increased their readiness and willingness to take action if they witnessed harmful online interactions.”

Eva Crossan Jory, National Union of Students (NUS) vice-president (welfare), said: “The National Union of Students supports moves to update and improve the guidelines and approaches that universities take to combat violence and harassment.”

She said while the 2016 Changing the Culture taskforce report was a key step forward, providing universities with a clearer understanding of how they must improve their practice in both dealing with complaints effectively and supporting students affected by violence and harassment, “more must be done” now.

“NUS has taken steps since 2016 to move the discussion forward, including publishing with the 1752 Group Power in the Academy: Staff sexual misconduct in UK higher education. That report examines harassment in the context of power and gender, and can inform how to make a change in cultures within universities that enable harassment.”

She said NUS will continue working with Universities UK and welcomes further moves to clarify areas universities struggle to address, including harassment in new contexts online such as via social media platforms.