Report and Support
Report and Support allows anyone who has experienced sexual violence, harassment, misconduct or any form of hate crime to report or disclose incidents to the University. If you’ve been subjected to any form of misconduct, you can tell us either anonymously or by reporting to an adviser through Report and Support.
What is Report and Support?
We are working hard to make Edinburgh Napier University a safer and more equal place to work and study. Report and Support helps us do this by allowing our students and staff to disclose misconduct and to seek support.
Report and Support allows anyone who has experienced sexual violence, harassment, misconduct or any form of hate crime to report or disclose incidents to the University. Whether you're reporting anonymously or to an advisor, we'll set you up with the right kind of support for you.
My name's Kirstie Farmer and I’m the Student Safeguarding and Equality Manager for the University.
Report and Support is an online tool that's available on My Napier. It's a tool for the university community to report any sort of inappropriate behaviour, so whether that's sexual violence and misconduct, hate crime based on race or homophobia for example, and any other sort of bullying and harassment. Behaviour can be reported through Report and Support.
The reason that we have it is because as a university we want to have a safe and supported way that people can report these sort of things, and so that we can monitor any sort of inappropriate types of behaviour as well. If a friend discloses something to you or you're aware of something that's happened and you can actually report on behalf of a friend – there is the option for you to do that.
You can either report to an advisor or you can report anonymously, whether you're reporting you for yourself or reporting on behalf of a friend. Once you've made a report, if you choose to report anonymously (which lots of people will do for good reason) the report will be logged, you will get some information that will tell you about where you can go for support around the incident or behaviour that you're reporting.
If you choose to report to an advisor, the report will be logged, you'll be asked to give a little bit of information about the incident you're reporting and then an advisor will get back in touch with you. You can choose how you want an advisor to get back to you. You can choose to leave an email address or you can leave a phone number and so the advisor will either email you to arrange a time to maybe have a chat with you or they will phone you up if you've given consent.
At Napier we have a team of around seven or eight people trained up to be Specialist Sexual Violence Misconduct Liaison Officers, or SVLMO you might also see it as, and these are people who are trained to advise you what your options are once you've made a report. They will talk you through what might happen if you report to the police for example, and they can also explain how you can report internally through our appeals, complaints and conduct manager and give you a bit of information about what to expect during those processes.
What they'll also do is give you information about different sources of support you can access, both within Edinburgh Napier—so that might be through our counselling and mental wellbeing services for example—or what other external supports are available in the community and that are available to you.
At Edinburgh Napier, we want it to be an inclusive environment where everybody can bring their true selves to the university, where people are supported to succeed and achieve their potential. As part of that we need to communicate a zero-tolerance approach to any sort of inappropriate behaviour and really encourage people to report in a safe and supported way. Report and Support facilitates that, and whether you're reporting anonymously or to an advisor, it helps us to set you up with the right kind of support for you.
What kind of incidents can I report?
These are the types of behaviour that can be reported through Report and Support:
- Sexual assault
- Sexual harassment
- Relationship abuse
- Hate incidents including any experience of racism
- Bully and harassment
- Discrimination
- Spiking
Ways to report an incident
Anonymous reporting
This option allows victims/survivors of misconduct to anonymously report an incident. Personal details about the perpetrator and survivor will not be taken at this time. This option provides the University with unidentifiable information which can be used to create a picture of any issues arising on campus. This information cannot be used to pursue complaints or begin a legal process. Please note that if you report anonymously we will not be able to offer direct advice or begin an official complaint process.
Find out more about the reporting process or make an anonymous report.
Reporting to an adviser
Reporting to an adviser is the second option that is available through Report and Support for victims/survivors of misconduct. This gives survivors the opportunity to disclose personal details about themselves, the perpetrator, and the incident. If a report is made to an adviser, a specially trained staff member from the University will respond. They will support the survivor to understand their options, sign post University and external support services and assist them to take appropriate action and seek a resolution.
What to do if you’re a survivor of any form of hate crime or misconduct
The University is committed to supporting students who have experienced or been affected by any form of hate crime, sexual violence or misconduct. We will not tolerate these behaviours within the University community and will take the appropriate action regarding those who commit it.
These guidelines are intended as a starting point for you to think about the support you need and how to access it.
Sexual assault and harassment guidelines for survivors.
Other information
Use of your data
If you use Report and Support to report an incident, you should read the privacy notice that you can access on the platform to understand how we will use the data you provide.
Zero Tolerance
Zero Tolerance is our University-wide campaign to prevent any form of hate crime, sexual violence and misconduct of any kind on our campuses and in our communities.
It's all about making Edinburgh Napier a safer and more equal place to work and study for all of our students and staff.