At Warwick, we strive to create a welcoming and inclusive environment in which every member of our community feels safe and respected. Read the University's Guiding Principles here.
Students can play their part by completing the University's Community Values Moodle online.
Personal Safety
Places to get advice about Personal Safety:
ON CAMPUS
Students who live on campus and have concerns about their personal safety should contact the University’s Security Office in the first instance. They are based at the Gatehouse and their contact telephone numbers are:
- In an Emergency: 22222 internal or 024 765 22222 external
- Non-Emergency: 22083 internal or 024 765 22083 external
Please also see useful information about personal safety provided on the University website.
OFF-CAMPUS
For students living in the Coventry area, please visit the West Midlands Police website, which provides useful information on personal safety.
For students living in Leamington and Kenilworth, please see the Warwickshire Police website. Warwickshire Police also operate Safer Neighbourhood Teams covering North, South and Central Leamington Spa and Kenilworth. You can find out more information about your local team at warwickshire.police.uk.
International Students: the British Council has produced some helpful guides about moving to the UK and staying safe - links to these guides can be found on the University Website.
For additional advice, please see the SU's Going Out and Staying Safe campaign webpage.
Hate Crime
The SU is a third-party Hate Crime reporting centre, meaning that staff have been trained and can make a report to the police on your behalf if you have been affected by this. Please see HERE for more information abour hate crime reporting and the support available.
Loss, Death & Grief
Losing someone close can be difficult. The University Counselling Service has some helpful information and links on their self-help resources here
If you are affected by the death of someone, you should talk to your Personal Tutor/Supervisor or another relevant person in your Department so that you can receive help and support navigating any impact this may have on your studies. If your ability to study is affected, you may want to consider submitting Mitigating Circumstances.
Healthy Relationships
A healthy relationship should make you feel positive, safe, and free to be yourself. It is about mutual respect, open and safe communication, and is consensual.
An unhealthy relationship can make you feel unhappy and unsafe. Signs of an unhealthy relationship are feeling generally unhappy, lack of respect and consent, threats, physical violence and emotional abuse. If you are experiencing these then it is important to tell someone.
Domestic abuse
Healthy relationships are about respect. Where there are “incidents or patterns of controlling, coercive, threatening, degrading and violent behaviour”, this is not respect. This behaviour may be domestic abuse. Domestic abuse can happen to anyone by anyone, regardless of their gender, sexual orientation or age, and can happen in different ways.
Physical abuse
It is not okay when someone physically hurts you, for example by hitting, pinning you down or pinching.
Emotional abuse
Abuse is not only physical, it can be emotional too. Emotional abuse is when someone uses emotions to control another, and it can make them feel less confident or scared. Some of the warning signs include name-calling, shouting, blackmail, or being blamed when something goes wrong. Sometimes you and your partner may disagree which is normal, but you should not constantly feel upset in your relationship. Healthy relationships consist of trust and support.
Control
Being forced to change your behaviour is abusive and can include being told what to wear, that you cannot speak to friends or family, or that you cannot study. Sometimes it is good to spend time with your friends apart from your partner. Control can also happen through technology. If your partner listens to your phone calls without permission, monitors your social media profiles or shows an intimate picture of you to other people without your consent, these can be abusive acts.
Sexual Misconduct
Sexual misconduct is any unwanted sexual act or activity that takes place without your consent. It can be perpetrated by a complete stranger, or by someone you know and trust. Sexual misconduct can happen to anyone. No-one ever deserves it or asks for it to happen – the sole person responsible is the perpetrator.
Responses to sexual misconduct
Those who have experienced sexual misconduct often struggle with feelings of shame, guilt and self-blame that can make it difficult to talk to anyone about their experiences. Survivors also often fear that others will blame them or that they won't be believed.
However you are feeling, try to remember that this is not your fault - you are not to blame, and you are not alone.
What is Warwick University doing to tackle sexual misconduct?
Sexual misconduct and harassment are widespread problems that exist across society, and university campuses are no exception to that, including Warwick. Every single one of us has a responsibility to acknowledge this issue and take action to tackle it. Together, as a community, we must strive to make our campus and local area as safe and inclusive as possible.
Every member of the Warwick community has access to the online bystander intervention and consent education education module Consent Matters via Moodle. In 2016/17, Warwick SU ran a pilot programme delivering the academic Intervention Initiative module to self-selecting students in two departments, PAIS and Law. The Intervention Initiative module is currently being offered to all first-year PAIS undergraduates. Using a ‘bystander’ model and utilising social norms theory, the programme is intended to change participants’ behaviour by unlearning passive assumptions about identity, violence, and one’s own power to influence the world around them. Ultimately, the programme is designed to increase the likelihood of an intervention by the participant, whether this is an intervention into a sexist chant or into a case of ongoing domestic abuse of a friend.
Independent Sexual Violence Advisor
Have you, or has someone you know, been affected by sexual violence or abuse? If so, there is specialist support available here at Warwick.
The University Outreach Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA) is an independent point of contact for anyone who has been affected by sexual violence, and she will be offering emotional support and advocacy to anyone who is in crisis and their supporters. It is important for anyone who has been affected by sexual violence to feel that they are heard, believed and supported, as well as being aware of all of their options with regards to reporting (or not). If you do choose to report an incident, the ISVA can help to guide you through the criminal justice process.
Charlotte offers ongoing, confidential emotional support and there are various ways that you can get in touch with her to talk through your options. She is based between the SU Advice Centre, Wellbeing Support Services, and Coventry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre (CRASAC) so that survivors and their supporters have the option of seeing her wherever they feel most comfortable.
Referrals into the University ISVA service can be made through the CRASAC helpline on 02476 277777. The helpline is open Monday to Friday from 10am-2pm, and Monday and Thursday evenings between 6-8pm. There is also a voicemail service outside of opening times so that you can leave your number and someone will get back to you as soon as possible. When accessing support through the CRASAC helpline, please specify that you wish to be referred to the University ISVA. Referrals can also be made directly through Wellbeing Support Services or the SU Advice Centre.