What would you like the Union to do?

Information about abuse needs to circulate more on campus! This was one of our priorities for this year in our manifesto. Being elected by more than 900 students who self-define as women they supported our ideas. One of them was to put up more resources to fight against violence on campus and within Halls. With its precious tool Report and Support, UCL supports students who are being abused or threatened by a partner, ex-partner, or family member but there is a clear lack of engagement with the available content. Students do not know enough what support is available for them. Priya and I have run a quick survey to understand how students feel on campus and from the feedback we gathered (almost 100 UCL students), more than 80% of our responders do not know where to seek support from UCL if they experience gender-based violence.

Spotting the signs of abuse is very difficult as it takes various shapes (emotional, psychological, physical, sexual, etc,). In most cases, many students would either not recognise or understand that what they are living is not normal. As SU elected Women Officers, we believe that it is our main role to inform the student body that sexual misconduct and harassment does not exempt Academia and that UCL and the Union condemned any act of violence.

We wanted to be something visible from all and that students use in their everyday life around campus. As we read from feminist magazines, the packaging of products is an efficient way to alert and understand certain behaviours or mechanisms.

We would like to also consider put a clear definition of consent and what support is available at UCL.

Why would you like to do this?

We want to do this:

- because there is a need for it
- to give the right support to our student community
- to educate UCL students on the notion of consent

How will this affect students?

This will make students aware of what is a healthy relationship and where they can get support from their community. It will always send a strong message to any abuser.