Back to news NUS launches Reclaim Your Campus campaign

On White Ribbon Day, NUS has launched “Reclaim Your Campus”, a campaign for students’ unions packed with actions to help raise awareness of violence against women.

The campaign focuses on 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, taking place from 25 November to 10 December 2014.

The aim is to raise awareness of violence against women, to build relationships between students' unions and local support services, and to encourage students to lobby their institutions to sign the Reclaim Your Campus pledge, as well as reform their policies and structures to protect students from sexual harassment and assault.

The pledge encourages institutions to commit to:

Adopt a zero tolerance stance on all forms of violence against women

Inform all student-facing members of staff about how to respond to student reports of sexual harassment and assault

Identify staff members from across departments to be linked and trained by specialist support services in the community

Make a public commitment to investigate when students report sexual harassment and assault

Hold events in partnership with the students' union and anti-sexual violence expert organisations about sexual consent

Integrate sexual consent education workshops into student inductions

Investigate the level of harassment and assault on campus and publicly publish the results

Not provide funding to student organisations that host events or promote behaviour that encourages sexual harassment and assault

Commit to providing adequate sexual harassment and assault counselling and services for students and clearly signpost these services

Engage in the NUS National strategy to tackle 'Lad Culture' on campuses and to actively promote equality between all genders.

Sign our petition and pledge to end sexual violence against women.

As part of the campaign, students’ unions are being encouraged to action consent workshops, poster making, photo projects, spoken word readings, fundraising activities and craftivism events on their campuses.

You can follow the activities being run by students’ unions using the hashtag #ReclaimYourCampus.

NUS research from 2010 found that one in seven students were victims of sexual assault or violence. In September this year NUS research found that one in four students have suffered unwelcome sexual advances, defined as inappropriate touching and groping.

NUS Women’s Officer Susuana Antubam said:

'Our research has consistently shown that sexual harassment is rife on campus, but we still keep hearing from institutions that there is no fear, no intimidation and no problem. The passing the buck approach of ‘not on my campus’ is completely unacceptable. They must acknowledge the problems and join us in confronting them.

'To be able to see real change, we need the whole of the educational community to step up and be active in creating safer campuses, which is why NUS is encouraging all students and students’ unions to lobby their institutions to commit to our Reclaim Your Campus pledge. Our pledge has ten demands focusing on embedding policy, education, support, and training into every educational community, which we want to see institutions take action on.'