18 December 2019 
Martin Higgs, Communications Officer
In the second short article on this theme this week, Rhona Bain of Edinburgh Napier University considers the Scottish context for her work on "Preventing and Tackling Sexual Violence and Misconduct on Campus".
2: The Scottish Context
I think it is useful to share the Scottish context in terms of how the wider Scottish HE sector is tackling sexual violence and misconduct on its campuses and I believe in some ways Scotland is ahead of the rest of the UK, writes Rhona Bain. The “Equally Safe in HE Toolkit” has been developed in direct response to the joint Scottish Government and COSLA strategy to prevent and tackle sexual violence and misconduct in Scotland.
The Equally Safe in Higher Education (ESHE) Toolkit was created at the University of Strathclyde by the ESHE Project team and was funded by the Scottish Government.
This resource provides free access to a range of information and resources to expand and develop our Scottish institutions response to gender based violence. The toolkit covers research and provides support and guidance on policy development, primary prevention, response strategies, curriculum and knowledge exchange and helps staff support survivors of sexual violence and engage with external partners.
This toolkit has been developed to provide Scottish HEs with guidance and support to develop: Policy, Practice, suitable training, how to provide safe and trusted reporting mechanisms and also how to work with external partners.
Building on the best practice within this resource, the 4 Edinburgh universities, Scotland’s Rural College, along with local key partners such as Police Scotland, NHS Scotland and Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre have joined together to create “Fearless Edinburgh”. This is a joint body of partners who together, rather than independently collaborate, to share resources, learn from one another and together tackle sexual violence and misconduct on campus. One of the key outputs of this group is to jointly fund a FTE Rape Crisis Support Worker who will work across all HEs in Edinburgh.
I really like this concept, of the local HEs working together, sharing experiences and ultimately providing a stronger framework on which to build individual strategies and better practice to support survivors.
Carry on reading - this is the second of Rhona Bain's three articles on her US experience
