Abstract:Harassment and sexual assault are a key concern for universities due to the impact that such incidents have on student victims—and potentially on a university's reputation. Women are particularly at risk during student nights out, where unsafe routes home increase vulnerability, and alcohol may fuel risky, transgressive and/or abusive behaviour. The ProtectED team at the University of Salford (UK) has developed a code of practice to ensure student safety, security and wellbeing in higher education. This contains ‘instruments’ that, among other issues, specifically address ‘harassment and sexual assault’ and the 'student night out’. The instruments were developed through a creative design process involving: action research; identification of themes; concept generation; and testing with an advisory group of key stakeholders. This highlighted the need to adopt a broader approach to harassment, stemming from the fact that harassment may occur online and relate to other issues and identities. ProtectED is helping universities tackle sexual assault as part of a wider programme of measures to ensure student safety, security and wellbeing and improve the student experience. ProtectED promotes partnership working at all levels — internally and externally — and will enable the collection and analysis of more accurate data across the higher education sector, to allow service improvement.
Vita:Dr Caroline L. Davey and Andrew B. Wootton are Directors of the Design Against Crime Solution Centre at the University of Salford. Dr Caroline Davey is a qualified Organisational Psychologist and Reader in Design, Innovation & Society. She has led major UK and European funded projects on social responsibility since 1998. Andrew Wootton is Senior Research Fellow and has 15 years experience in design research. Caroline Davey and Andrew Wootton have published academic articles and design guidelines on the role of design within crime prevention, and the use of holistic, human-centred ‘design thinking’ to improve quality of life. They have delivered European-funded projects on Design Against Crime, and initiated a major UK consortium project on sustainability in urban design decision-making—VivaCity2020. Solution Centre projects include: City Centre Crime; National Police Crime Prevention Service (NPCPS); Planning Urban Security (PLuS)—an EU funded project led by the LKA Niedersachsen; Youth Design Against Crime—a partnership with UK charity Catch22 to engage disadvantaged young people; ProtectED – Safety, security and wellbeing of university students and HEI assets; and SecurePART to engage civil society Organisations (CSOs) in EU security research—funded by EU’s FP7 programme. Wootton/Davey are UK representatives on COST Action TU1203 Crime Prevention Though Urban Design and Planning (2013–16).
