The impact of committing sexual violence

Understanding what good sex is and the consequences of committing sexual violence at º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ seeks to create a safe environment where students understand how to have good sex.

In April 2021, Think Tank HEPI suggested that 43% of undergraduate students arrive at University having had no previous sexual experiences.

So ask yourself: 

  • Do you feel like you know how to have good sex?
  • Do you care about your sexual partner’s pleasure? 
  • Are you confident you could understand the verbal and physical signals that show whether someone does or does not want to be intimate with you? 
  • Do you talk about using protection with any of your sexual partners? 

 If you didn’t answer a firm ‘yes’ to any of the above, we’d recommend reading our article on What is consent?. This talks about what consent looks like and how to be someone who is a respectful, consensual partner who understands the body language, signals and verbal cues to have good sex, as well as being able to communicate your needs, wants and expectations and asking your partner for theirs.

A study by Taylor and Shrive for VictimFocus revealed that out of 22,417 women they surveyed, 99.7% had been repeatedly subjected to violence including assaults, harassment and rape. Furthermore, Hales et al (2021) found that 63 out of 554 male university students in the UK admitted to committing at least one sexually aggressive act.

By taking the time to understand consent and what good sex means, you will be following not only the values of our University, but more importantly, you’ll be an ally who stands against violence to women in our community.  

The consequences of committing sexual violence

The impact on our community

We want our community to be a safe one, free from gender-based violence discrimination and hate crime. When you behave in a way that makes another student feel fear, this has an impact on the wider community.

The impact on studies

When you subject another person to sexual violence, you don’t only impact your own studies with a risk of being disciplined and having your studies terminated (last year, 90% of sexual violence-related disciplinary cases led to a guilty verdict at º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ), you also cause disruption and trauma to another student.

Potential criminal proceedings

Sexual violence is a crime; it is the government’s priority to end violence against women and girls. So the Ministry of Justice, alongside local Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) and university staff are supporting those who go through this process.

Whilst criminal proceedings are ongoing, you may have restrictions placed on coming onto campus reflecting your bail conditions, which will limit your ability to enjoy the full student experience.

If you are found guilty of committing a sexual offence, you could face time in prison, be listed on the Sexual Offenders Register, and also have your studies terminated from the University alongside a campus ban.

If you want to learn more about how to have great sex and how you can respect others, you can watch Consent Collective TV, our partner resource full of informative video content about sex, consent and relationships.

If you have concerns about someone’s behaviour – whether it’s a friend, partner, colleague or family member - or you have been subjected to sexual violence and are seeking support, you can report through our Incident Reporting Tool.