Addressing Student Sexual Violence in Higher Education: A Good Practice Guide

In this much anticipated second edition of their authoritative book on addressing student sexual violence at UK universities, Clarissa DiSantis and Graham Towl revisit the discussion around sexual violence within Higher Education. Students subjected to sexual violence suffer significant impacts to their physical, psychological, emotional, behavioural, and practical wellbeing, which have substantial effects on their studies. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have a duty to ensure students can access their education in environments that are safe – without fear, harassment, or violence.

Providing how-to level information on staffing, policy writing, responding to disclosures, developing comprehensive prevention and response education programmes, conducting trauma-informed investigations, adjudication and sanctioning processes, and offering sanctioning guidelines for sexual violence, new chapters include:

• Technology-Facilitated Sexual Violence and Technology-Facilitated Solutions: Learning After COVID-19;
• Tackling Resistance to Change;
• Case Management and Practitioner Safety;
• When Universities Get It Wrong; and
• Leadership and Partnerships.

This is a ground-breaking resource for practitioners, senior leaders, policy makers, student services administrators, educators, investigators, adjudicators, and activists in Higher Education. It will undoubtedly be of use to those tasked with ensuring Office for Students regulatory compliance in 2025 and beyond.

Clarissa J. DiSantis is a practitioner, trainer, and leading authority on addressing gender-based violence in Higher Education and was the first person to hold a dedicated role in this area in the United Kingdom at Durham University from 2016 to 2024. She currently works as the Education and Training Lead for Active* Consent based at the University of Galway, Ireland.

Graham J. Towl is Professor of Forensic Psychology at Durham University, UK and the Chair of the Scottish Advisory Panel on Offender Rehabilitation in Scotland. He was the Pro Vice Chancellor Chair of the groundbreaking Durham University Sexual Violence Task Force from 2015 to 2016. Prior to his time at Durham, he was the Chief Psychologist at the Ministry of Justice.