At Chester Students’ Union, our advice team offer free, independent, and confidential advice to our students on a range of topics. This includes providing procedural advice, guidance and support to students who are involved in University disciplinary procedures for matters such as:
- Sexual harassment (including stalking)
- Non-consensual image sharing (e.g. revenge porn)
- Sexual coercion
- Sexual assaults (including rape)
While many students approach us when they are being investigated, we want to make it absolutely clear that the CSU advice team are here to support ALL students in such cases, including those students who have reported a sexual assault.
Reporting at the University of Chester (UoC)
UoC provide some advice and guidance about reporting incidents of this nature here, with further detailed student guidance here.
The student guide states the following:
Reporting internally.
If the person/s that committed the act/s of sexual violence against you is a student at the University of Chester, you can report this to the Proctor’s Office. The Proctor’s Office are responsible for investigating student disciplinary matters. They can investigate complaints from students, staff and members of the public about students and make informal measures to deal with misdemeanours or conduct formal panels to decide the outcome of more serious issues. These measures range from verbal warnings to expulsion from university.
In most universities the person submitting a report of a sexual violent nature is classed as “the reporting student”, while the student who the allegation is made against is known as “the responding party”.
As the university has a designated team of Sexual Violence Liaison Officers (SVLO) to support students who have been affected by sexual violence, many students who approach CSU are those who are being investigated (the responding party).
However, we want to emphasise again, CSU supports both reporting and responding parties.
A note about the SVLO service
The University’s Sexual Violence Liaison Officer (SVLO) service provides outstanding, specialist support for students affected by sexual violence. They are highly trained in responding to disclosures and can offer both emotional and practical guidance.
The CSU advice service is not attempting to replicate the SVLO service, and we would always strongly encourage all students affected by sexual violence to contact the SVLO team in the first instance.
How CSU Advice can support reporting students
It’s important to note that while we are unable to provide emotional support, we can offer the following:
- Advice about the reporting /investigating process
- We can accompany you to any meetings you may be asked to attend at the university.
- We can help you with statements and evidence gathering.
- We can discuss your options at the outcome of any investigation.
- We can discuss academic options such as deferring work or interrupting your studies.
- We can signpost you to internal and external support departments and agencies
If you would like to book an appointment with one of our advisors, you can do so here.
Further university information and links:
- Student guide for reporting sexual violence
- Email report@chester.ac.uk
- Report using the UoC online form here
- If you are affected by any of the information and would like support, please contact studentservices@chester.ac.uk or call 01244 511 550.
