FOI_25-151 Reports of Sexual Misconduct made via report and support
Date of response: 12 June 2025
We have now considered your request of 14 May 2025 for the following information:
I write here a Freedom of Information request about specific reports in your online reporting tool Report+Support:
• https://reportandsupport.uea.ac.uk/
Could you please tell me the total number of reports including both anonymous and non-anonymous reports, separately for both staff and students of:
• Sexual harassment*
• Sexual assault*
• Rape*
• Attempted rape*
• Sexual abuse*
• Sexual misconduct*
• Sexual violence*
*I recognise you may only use some of these definitions or a combination of these definitions when recording incidents. Please tell me about reports using your definitions as recorded.
For the academic year:
• September 2023 – August 2024
For the academic year 2023/2024, could you please tell me the following, aggregating the information but separated out according to the definitions used above:
• Who the reporting party (victim) was – numbers of students and numbers of staff
• The gender of the reporting party (victim)
• The ethnicity of the reporting party (victim)
• Who the reported party (perpetrator) was – numbers of students and numbers of staff
• The location of the incidents
• What the university did about the incidents reported
• How was the student supported
Our response:
| Data | Count of reports |
|---|---|
| Reporting party (victim) | 37 Students |
| 0 Staff | |
| Gender of reporting party (victim) | 4 Males |
| 30 Females | |
| 3 Other/Not known/not provided/Sigma | |
| Ethnicity of reporting party (victim) | 4 Asian or Asian British |
| 1 Black, African, Caribbean or Black British | |
| 1 Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | |
| 12 Not known or blank | |
| 19 White | |
| Who the reported party (alleged perpetrator) was | 1 Staff |
| 13 Students | |
| 23 Not known or identified as either staff or student | |
| Location of incident | 4 Within an academic setting |
| 10 Off campus | |
| 8 Not provide/other | |
| 12 Campus/in another non-academic setting/university/accommodation | |
| 3 Online/social media | |
| What the University did | 10 Reports accepted or formal disciplinary or victim referred to internal support |
| 13 Anonymous report - no contact with reporter possible | |
| 14 No further action or Reporter did not consent to further action being taken | |
| How the student (victim) was supported by the University | 13 Anonymous report – no contact made |
| 11 Offered a meeting to discuss report but did not accept | |
| 10 Student Life meeting to discuss report | |
| 3 Talking Therapies meetings or Wellbeing support |
Explanation of data provided:
The above figures are those reports categorised as either Sexual Assault or Sexual Harassment by the reporting person when recording the incident in our online reporting tool Report and Support.
We have counted the type of victim (whether student or staff member), the gender and the ethnicity of the victim, where noted in the report. Where the reporting person is making the report on behalf of the victim, we have provided the figures on the victim's characteristics, and not the reporting person's.
It is important to note that not all reporters chose to enter any/all identifying information, as noted in your request. Therefore, we can only provide the requested breakdown where this information has been entered and recorded in Report and Support.
Where the student or staff member has chosen to disclose their identity, the University will make contact to seek whether they require additional support or wish to make a formal complaint against the alleged perpetrator. This is not possible for reports made anonymously.
Where the victim/reporting person does give their consent to proceed with a formal complaint or instigate formal disciplinary investigations against the alleged perpetrator this information has been provided.
Not all victims wish to receive any support or process a formal complaint, and in that instance the university will not, and cannot, take any further action.
Finally, not all complainants will wish to receive support (whether Talking Therapies, Wellbeing, or Student Life advisor meeting) from the University, but all named reporters will be offered a meeting by our Student Support department to discuss the report and decide whether any further action is to be taken (referral to Student Misconduct Investigation Team).