Disclosing an incident means telling someone what happened. Disclosing doesn’t automatically lead to formal reporting (i.e the University investigating the incident as a disciplinary matter). It may be that you want to disclose an incident in order to seek support. You can speak to your HR Business partner confidentially to discuss potential options without this necessarily leading to any particular action.

Making a formal report refers specifically to reporting the incident to HR and requesting that the University investigates the misconduct perpetrated by a BSU staff member or BSU student. The University would investigate this as a disciplinary issuefollowing the relevant procedure - either the Sexual Violence and Misconduct Procedure for Staff or Harassment and Sexual Misconduct Policy and Procedure for Students.

You don’t have to provide details of the incident in your email to HR or your Report and Support submission – you can say a gender-based violence incident has occurred, and you’d like to discuss reporting options. Having this conversation won’t oblige you to go ahead with reporting but it can also serve the purpose of initiating the process if you do decide to go ahead with reporting. Further information about the formal reporting process can be found in the Making a formal report of an incident to the University (staff) section below.

If you have experienced harassment, sexual violence or domestic abuse, you may choose to report this directly:

To report to the police:

• In an emergency dial 999
• To report a crime (non-emergency) directly to the police, call the police non- emergency number 101
• If you would prefer to initially speak to a police officer somewhere other than your place of residence, ask for this when you call.

There are also specialist agencies who can provide Independent Sexual/Domestic Violence Adviser (ISVA/IDVA) support with police reporting and throughout a police investigation.

Local agencies in the Avon and Somerset/Bath area are:

• Safelink (Sexual Violence
• South Side (Domestic Violence)
• SARI (Harassment/hate crime)

Alongside this support, BSU staff members can also speak to their HR Business Partner who can confidentially explain the University reporting options you may also wish to consider.

You have the option to report formally to the University, who can investigate incidents of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct under the Anti-harassment policy and Sexual Violence and Misconduct procedure for staff. This involves making a formal statement in writing to the HR department for staff misconduct, who will carry out an investigation.

Your report should be submitted in one of two ways:

• Via your HR Business Partner – either in writing by email or through a conversation where notes of the timeline/facts of the incident will be taken
• Through the Report and Support portal

If you are a member of staff, you will be invited to meet with an HR Business Partner following your report where the formal investigation process will be explained and the report details confirmed. The HR Business Partner will check whether you have any immediate concerns which need to be considered, explore what you would consider a positive outcome of the process and advise what can be achieved within the scope of the formal procedure being followed. The HR Business Partner will ensure that you are aware of all the support options available to you, if this was not covered during the earlier disclosure process.

If formal action is pursued under the relevant policy, an Investigator will be appointed, and the anticipated investigation timescale will be discussed. You will be supported and updated throughout any investigation process.

Further detailed information on the investigation, outcome and any appeal process can be found in the Sexual Violence and Misconduct Procedure for Staff document.

You can anonymously report something that has happened to you.

Sometimes people find this a useful first step towards telling someone what’s happened, while not yet feeling ready to engage further in support. You can submit an anonymous report via our secure Report and Support portal.

If you do choose to name the other person/people involved in any of the free text areas and they are either a University student or staff member, the University will consider appropriate action to safeguard you and/or members of our community, in accordance with the Safeguarding Policy and Procedures.

If you choose to submit an anonymous report, please be aware that no formal action can normally be taken.