Report and Support is a speak up site, which allows students, staff or visitors to inform the University of any incidents of:
- Bullying
- Harassment related to a protected characteristic
- General harassment or stalking
- Sexual misconduct
- Domestic and relationship abuse, including controlling behaviour
- Hate crimes or hate incidents
- Discrimination
- An assault
- Wellbeing concern
- Freedom of speech concern
- I’m not sure
- Other
You can read the full set of questions that are asked when someone makes a report on the Questions asked in the reporting process page.
You have the option to share anonymously. If you submit an anonymous report, we will not be able to identify you. This means we won’t be able to make any further contact with you and are unlikely to take any formal action.
You can opt into an anonymous messaging service [insert link], which will allow you to continue to discuss the issues you’ve raised and decide later on if you wish to give your details or pursue a more formal reporting option.
However, if you choose not to use this service, it means that the university has a record of the incident, and we can use anonymous reports to identify trends or patterns of incidents which we may be able to address through informal interventions.
Read more on anonymous reporting on the What is anonymous reporting? page.
You may also share your contact details with your report and ask to speak with an adviser. You can choose who your report goes to/ who you will get a response from.
Who can make a report?
Students, staff or visitors can make a report through Report + Support.
What happens when someone makes an anonymous report?
[Insert infographic if you have one]
The report will be viewed by one of the administrators- see below for a list of administrators. The administrators will first review the report to identify any risks that relate to the duty of care. If no immediate risk is identified, the report will be triaged and assigned to the appropriate person for action. If no immediate action can be taken, the report will be closed. The information kept will be for trend analysis and used to inform proactive prevention.
What is the difference between anonymous and with contact details?
When reporting with contact details, you will be asked to provide your name, email address and phone number. When reporting anonymously, none of this information is captured. When reporting with contact details, you can expect one of our responders to contact you to discuss the matter further. When reporting anonymously, we won't be able to contact you unless you opt into our messaging service. You can read more about our messaging service on our support pages.
What happens when someone wants to contact an advisor?
The administrators (see below) will assign a case to the requested advisor or someone else if they are not available. Each of the advisors are provided with a login and can only access cases that are assigned to them. The advisor receives an email notification that a case has been assigned to them – no identifiable information is provided within this email alert. The advisor then logs into Report + Support to access information provided securely. The advisor then makes contact with the person who has made the report, and they make arrangements to discuss the report.
How do you deal with malicious complaints?
Malicious or vexatious reports are extremely rare. If a report is thought to be malicious or vexatious, we will look to investigate its legitimacy. If it is found to be a false allegation that impacts an individual, then disciplinary action may be taken against the person who made the false allegation. However, those reporting are often accused of making up their allegations as a retaliation tactic, which is used to deter people from reporting. We do not want a fear of being told an allegation is malicious to stop people from reporting their experiences of harm. Additionally, if an investigation does not find enough evidence to take action on a matter, this does not mean that the allegations were malicious, nor is it proof that they did not happen. Most investigations only assess if there is enough evidence to prove that the behaviour did take place. Further investigation is usually needed to establish that a report was made with malicious intent. If an investigation finds that there is not enough evidence to prove that the behaviour happened, we will not automatically judge this to be a malicious or vexatious report without appropriate investigation.
What do you do with the information gathered from anonymous reports?
We use the information gathered from anonymous reports to inform actions we can take to address and prevent unacceptable behaviours. We aggregate this data to understand trends and patterns, and this allows us to target specific departments or locations with interventions. Those interventions may be direct or indirect. If someone is named in an anonymous report, we will conduct a risk assessment of the report and decide what action is safe and appropriate to take. Examples of preventative actions taken based on insights collected from anonymous reports include [insert organisation’s examples here, such as training, awareness campaigns, new policies and processes.]
What do you do with the data gathered from advisor reports?
The data collected from Report + Support is used to produce anonymised annual reports. These reports would include the number of cases, the most reported types of harassment and the location.
How secure is the data and information sent through the system?
Data held on Report + Support is GDPR compliant, and further information about how data is collected and stored is outlined in the Privacy Notice [Insert link]. The system has been security tested by both the developer, Culture Shift, and by us [insert organisation name].
How long is the data sorted on the system?
We will only retain personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for. After five years from case closure on the Report + Support system, we remove all personal data and archive the reports as outlined in the Privacy Notice and Retention Schedule [Insert links].
Who are the administrators on the system?
[Name the role titles of the administrators on the system for transparency, or link to another article where they are listed]