What are bullying and harassment?
Bullying is offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour, an abuse or misuse of power to undermine, humiliate, denigrate or injure the recipient. The behaviour or treatment may relate to a person’s gender, disability, gender re-assignment or gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation, age or any other protected characteristic.
Harassment is behaviour which is unwanted and which violates a person’s dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. The views of the person who is being subjected to the unwanted behaviour are important when considering whether something constitutes harassment.
To find out more information on Bullying and Harassment, please see our iCity page: Bullying and Harassment : Birmingham City University. Gov.uk also provides further information on unlawful bullying and harassment.
At BCU, we believe that bullying and harassment are never okay. Bullying and harassment are contrary to the Equality Act 2010, the University’s Student Disciplinary Procedure (Non-Academic) and Prevention of Bullying, Harassment, Sexual Misconduct and Victimisation Policy. For staff, these behaviours are also contrary to the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Employment Policy.
What support is available from BCU people who have experienced bullying or harassment?
If you or someone else is in immediate danger, or are seriously injured, you can seek emergency support by calling 999. If you are on campus and need additional support, you can call Security on 0121 331 6969, they are available 24/7.
If you have experienced, or you know someone who has experienced bullying or harassment it can be helpful to talk about this with someone you trust. You can speak to the University Mental Health & Wellbeing Team, who have trained advisors to support students at BCU. The Mental Health & Wellbeing team are available Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.
You can also choose to speak to the Student Support Centre or to your personal tutor for support and guidance.
BCU’s wellbeing app is an online support service that can be accessed by BCU students and staff for free. There are self-help resources and information on anxiety, stress, managing emotions and building confidence readily available.
Extenuating Circumstances. If you feel your studies have been affected by what has happened, you can consider applying for extenuating circumstances.
If you are a member of staff, you can contact People and Culture, your HR partner will be able to identify the support that’s available for you. Staff members can also utilise the Employee Assistance Programme. If you are a member of a trade union, you may be able to access further support by getting in touch with them directly. The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Team provides advice, support and guidance on equality, diversity and inclusion related issues to academic advisors and other staff in student-supporting roles.
If you are worried or concerned about someone else, find out more about how you can help them.
What support is available externally for bullying and harassment?
If you or someone else is in immediate danger, or are seriously injured, you can seek emergency support by calling 999. If you are on campus and need additional support, you can call Security on 0121 331 6969, they are available 24/7.
If you would like to explore support external to the university, you can find a list of organisations below that can provide this support. These organisations will be able to provide to support to anyone, no matter if they are a staff member or a student.
·Victim Support offer free and confidential advice and support
- Call the Samaritans Helpline on 116 123 (open 24/7, 365 days a year)
- Muslim Safety Net is a specialist helpline providing support to individuals who have experienced anti-Muslim hostility, discrimination and hate crime.
- Citizens Advice provides some information on bullying and harassment
- The National Bullying Helpline provide advice and information for victims of bullying and those who may support them. They have online advice pages for all things related to bullying of adults and children alongside a helpline.
- Family Lives provides some information and advice on bullying at University.
- The National Union of Students (NUS) has put together some top tips on how to deal with bullying in halls.
- Young Minds has put together a blog on how to deal with bullying at University
- LGBT Foundation has a number of groups covering a wide section of the LGBT community. They provide a safe and comfortable environment for people who may feel isolated, are coming out or are new to the area.
- Look at the NHS guidance on 5 steps to positive mental wellbeing.
- Access some self-help resources available on iCity.
It’s important to take care of yourself. If you’ve heard something distressing or if something is troubling you, seek help and support from one of the above services.
If you are worried or concerned about someone else, find out more about how you can help them.
Reporting bullying and harassment
We encourage concerns of bullying and harassment to be raised via Report and Support. This system can be used by staff or students; you can choose to do this either anonymously or you can report with your contact details. If you choose to report with contact details, an advisor will be able to talk you through the options and support available to you, in confidence. You can report an incident no matter where it took place.
If you choose to make a formal complaint [LW1] to the University about a student or member of staff, there are procedures which set out the steps you'll need to follow.
- For students: Student Complaints Procedure, this is dealt with by Student Governance.
- For staff: Grievance Policy, this is dealt with by People and Culture.
If you are worried or concerned about someone else, find out more about how you can help them.
If you would like to submit information on a support service you think might help others, please contact us.