Identifying students ‘at risk’ - new guidelines for schools and colleges

Did you know that fresh guidance has been issued to help schools and colleges identify exploitation, abuse or neglect of young people? The guide covers all forms of safeguarding, including physical abuse, female genital mutilation, child sexual exploitation, radicalisation and cyberbullying. Are your managers aware that all staff are expected to read the simple 8 page summary section of the new guidelines?

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Would your staff know that even if they did not intend to harass someone, their action could still count as harassment? Should someone tell Lord Rennard?

Considerable publicity has been given to allegations of sexual harassment against Liberal Democratic peer Lord Rennard. An investigation came to the conclusion that intent could not be proved beyond reasonable doubt. Why does their need to be proof of intent?

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Social Media and violence against women

In July 2013, the End Violence Against Women (EVAW) Coalition and The Guardian held a roundtable discussion looking at the relationship between social media and violence against women and girls (VAWG). They specifically explored the way that VAWG is perpetrated via social media, for example the sharing of sexist and misogynistic images on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

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Participation in banter

What should you do if a gay member of staff or student participates in homophobic ‘banter’? And if they participate, do they later have legal rights to allege harassment? Does your bullying and harassment policy make clear the answer to these questions?

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BBC amends HR policy following suicide of employee

Is your organisational culture such that employees find it easy to raise bullying and harassment concerns? An article in Personnel Today highlights the potentially tragic consequences when this is not the case.

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