Our Streets Now: Higher Education Collaboration with The Tab
Our Streets Now is a campaign dedicated to ending public sexual harassment, in February 2021 we launched the Higher Education campaign, to address public sexual harassment affecting students in universities across the UK.
We collaborated with The Tab, a leading youth media site in Britain to conduct research into the prevalence and impact of public sexual harassment experienced by students, on and off campus. The Tab distributed a survey to its large following of students all across the country allowing us to gather the voices of over 1,300 students across 71 different higher education institutions.
By partnering with The Tab, we were able to reach a much wider and more diverse audience beyond our followers and those already engaged with our campaign, ensuring a more representative sample of the student population. This collaboration not only increased the quantity of responses but also enhanced the quality and breadth of our data, capturing experiences from a wide range of backgrounds and geographical locations. The inclusion of perspectives from students who may not have been directly associated with Our Streets Now provided a more comprehensive and unbiased view of the issue, strengthening the validity and impact of our findings.
Some of the key findings from the report include:
77% of students of marginalised genders feel unsafe at clubs and bars, and over half have avoided going on nights out for fear of PSH or sexual assault
71% of students of marginalised genders have had their participation in student life affected by the shortening of daylight hours.
Only 16% of students would feel comfortable sharing their experiences of PSH to their higher education institution, and over half would not trust their institution to handle reports of PSH appropriately.
This research provided insight into an area of gender-based violence often overlooked by academics, helping to highlight the widespread nature of the issue and the devastating impact it can have on women, girls and marginalised genders. Additionally, the data gathered helped the Higher Education campaign set its priorities and inform its strategic approach.
We are very grateful to The Tab for their support on this research project. Public sexual harassment, as this research shows, is everywhere and has an impact, and we won’t stop until it is nowhere.
If you are interested in collaborating with Our Streets Now, email us at hello@ourstreetsnow.org
Read the report:
Our Streets Now: Higher Education - Student Safety Report (2022)
Read The Tab article:
