GOLDSMITHS UNIONS’ STATEMENT ON SEXUAL HARASSMENT

Goldsmiths UCU, UNISON and Students Union wish to acknowledge the fantastic work done by individuals in the Centre for Feminist Research and elsewhere to challenge sexual harassment on campus. We regret that the College’s response to date has not been able to deal adequately with the problem and we urge them, from this point on, to be proactive and open in addressing issues of sexual harassment. We acknowledge the Deputy Warden’s open letter on barriers to equality, and on the issue of sexual harassment in particular, and we urge the College to enter into wider dialogue with all staff and students about these concerns and to improve systems and processes for reporting, investigating and dealing with harassment at all levels across the College.

We believe that such issues can never be fully addressed on a quick-fix basis but rather require ongoing and active commitment to bring about changes in practices and behaviour. The campus unions have an important role to play in this work and also have much to learn and to contribute. Sexual harassment is intolerable and unacceptable. We urge people never to stay silent about these issues and to contact us with any suggestions about how we can best move forward to ensure that sexual harassment has no place on our campus.