Backround

In 2010 the Hidden Marks report was released, based on a study of the experiences of women students in Higher Education. The report uncovered some shocking findings such as:

- 14% of students have experienced serious or physical sexual assault.

- 68% of students have been subject to verbal or physical sexual harrasment.

- Nearly one of four students has experienced unwanted sexual contact.

- In the category of serious sexual assault, more than 4 in 10 told no one about the attack.

- More than a third reported they sometimes felt unsafe in their insitution buildings in the evening.

- A shocking number of respondents did not report what had happened to them. The main reasons were that they did not think they would be taken seriously, thought they would be blamed for what happened, and didn't feel what had happened was serious enough to report.

This report served as a wake up call to Student Unions and Kent Union realised we must do something about it. A motion was passed at our Union Council to adopt a zero tolerance to sexual harrassment policy, and we have since developed an operational policy to enact in The Venue. We developed our policy to cover harrasment of all of our visitors & staff as well as all types of discrimination.

Kent Union is also an accredited 'Zero Tolerance Union' by the National Union of Students.

Our Policy

Our priority in The Venue is and always be the safety and experience of our staff & visitors, which be believe sets us apart from other nightclubs. We haven't implemented this policy because there are particular problems around these issues in The Venue, but because culturally there are behaviours and trends we can no longer ignore, and will always strive to continue to develop the safety of our club.

As part of our policy, we have zero tolerance to the following behaviours:

i. Unlwecome sexual gestures or innuendos.

ii. Groping, pinching, or smacking some's body i.e. bottom or breasts.

iii. Exposing your sexual organs to someone.

iv. Entering the opposite sexes toilet.

v. Derogatory comments or gestures based on someone's age, gender, race, orientation or ability.

Failure to comply with this policy may lead to exclusion from The Venue.

You can download our full operational policy that we work from here.

 How To Report

We want our staff and customers to feel safe enough to report any behaviour they're not comfortable with or believe other to be uncomfortable with.

You make a report to us in two ways:

1. Tell any member of staff or security on the night - we will treat your report with the utmost respect and handle it sensitively.

2. Send us an email - you can send an email to make a report or find out more to zero-tolerance@kent.ac.uk - this is a completely safe and confidential inbox and your email will be treated so. We will make sure to respond to your email with 24 hours.