King’s is committed to protecting the dignity of all our staff in their work and interactions with others. This includes providing a working and learning environment that is free from bullying, harassment, sexual misconduct and hate crime. Here you’ll find guidance for those who have experienced or witnessed bullying, harassment, sexual misconduct and hate crime, including support available both within and outside King’s.

The university recognises its duty of care to all colleagues. Inappropriate behaviour can result in stress and stress-related illness, and potentially resignation. All staff, and especially those who have responsibility for other members of staff, share this duty of care. We expect all colleagues to treat each other with respect, courtesy and consideration. We have the right to expect professional behaviour from others, and we are responsible for behaving professionally towards others.

If it's an emergency and the crime is still taking place, call 999 and ask for the relevant emergency service.

If you feel like it's not an emergency, call 101. This does not mean the incident is not important - it just helps emergency services to prioritise their resources.

The emergency services will contact King’s security to make arrangements to come on to campus and alert them of the incident.  

If there is more than one person available to offer support at the scene, both the emergency services and security can be contacted. If this is not possible, the emergency services should always be called in the first instance.

Security can then be contacted via the nearest guard, reception desk or emergency number:

Bullying:

Bullying is offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour involving the misuse of power that can make a person feel vulnerable, upset, humiliated, undermined or threatened. Power does not always mean being in a position of authority. It can include both personal strength and the power to coerce through fear or intimidation.

The College recognises that there are a number of power dynamics that can arise in a university, for example between a lecturer and a student or a researcher and their supervisor. The College is alert to the potential for bullying and harassment to occur where there is an imbalance in power.

• Bullying may include (without limitation):
• physical or psychological threats;
• overbearing and intimidating levels of management or supervision;
• inappropriate or derogatory remarks about someone's performance;
• public shaming or humiliation in front of others; and
• purposefully ignoring an individual’s work or contributions in class.

Bullying may also include subtle or insidious acts including (without limitation):

• unequal treatment in the application of conditions of employment
• unreasonable pressure to complete tasks;
• unfair allocation of work or assigning more work to an individual than others;
• unreasonably withholding permission to attend training and development opportunities including promotion, academic conferences or similar events;
• persistent criticism;
• spreading malicious rumours; and
• making threats or comments about job security without foundation.

Cyber bullying is any form of bullying that is carried out online using electronic media devices such as computers, laptops, smartphones, tablets, or gaming consoles. It can take place on social media platforms such as (but not limited to) Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, WeChat, LinkedIn, through email, or online collaboration sites such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom.

Harassment:

Harassment is any unwanted physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct that has the purpose or effect of violating a person's dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them. A single incident can amount to harassment.

A person may be harassed even if they were not the intended "target" of the harassing behaviour.

Harassment is unlawful under the Equality Act 2010 if it relates to age, disability, gender reassignment, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation, or if it is conduct of a sexual nature (sexual harassment).

However, the College considers all harassment to be unacceptable, whether or not it relates to a relevant protected characteristic.

Sexual Harassment:

Sexual harassment (or sexual misconduct) is any form of unwanted verbal, non-verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature that creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading or offensive environment. Sexual harassment may include (without limitation):

• unwanted physical conduct or "horseplay", including touching, pinching, pushing and grabbing.
• continued suggestions for social activity after it has been made clear that such suggestions are unwelcome; or
• unwelcome sexual advances or suggestive behaviour (even if the harasser perceives it as harmless).

Sexual harassment is complex and may not always be obvious or follow an easily recognisable pattern. It is important to note that:

• a person can experience unwanted conduct from someone of any gender.
• conduct may be unwanted even if the person subject to it does not expressly object to it.
• it may not matter whether the conduct is acceptable to others or is common in the person’s work environment.
• sexual interaction that is invited, mutual or consensual is not sexual harassment because it is not unwanted; and
• sexual conduct that has been welcomed in the past can become unwanted.

Hate Crime:

A hate crime is defined by the Met Police as:

Any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a person's race or perceived race; religion or perceived religion; sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation; disability or perceived disability and any crime motivated by hostility or prejudice against a person who is transgender or perceived to be transgender.

Hate crime does not require specific evidence as long as the victim believes the incident is due to prejudice of race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or because they are transgender. You also do not personally have to perceive the incident as hate related as any other person or witness can think the incident is hate related – and that is enough for this to be recorded as such.

Hate crimes generally fall in to three categories: physical assault, verbal abuse and incitement to hatred.

Physical assault

Physical assault of any kind is an offence. If you’ve been a victim of physical assault you should report it. Depending on the level of the violence used, a perpetrator may be charged with common assault, actual bodily harm or grievous bodily harm.

Verbal abuse

Verbal abuse, threats or name-calling can be a common and extremely unpleasant experience for minority groups.

Victims of verbal abuse are often unclear whether an offence has been committed or believe there is little they can do. However, there are laws in place to protect you from verbal abuse.

Incitement to hatred

The offence of incitement to hatred occurs when someone acts in a way that is threatening and intended to stir up hatred. That could be in words, pictures, videos, music, and includes information posted on websites.

Hate content may include:

• messages calling for violence against a specific person or group
• web pages that show pictures, videos or descriptions of violence against anyone due to their perceived differences
• chat forums where people ask other people to commit hate crimes against a specific person or group

If it's an emergency and the crime is still taking place, call 999 and ask for the relevant emergency service.

The emergency services will contact King’s security to make arrangements to come on to campus and alert them of the incident.  

If there is more than one person available to offer support at the scene, both the emergency services and security can be contacted. If this is not possible, the emergency services should always be called in the first instance.

Formal Resolution

Grievances may be raised by employees who have been bullied or harassed or who consider that another member of the King’s Community has been bullied or harassed. In addition, managers may engage the disciplinary procedures to deal with occurrences of bullying and harassment they become aware of. It is not necessary for a grievance to have been issued for a manager to take this step. The relevant policies are:

• Academic Staff Regulation pertaining to Grievance Procedure
• Disciplinary Procedure: Research, Teaching-only and Professional Services Staff
• Academic Staff: Regulation Pertaining to Disciplinary and Related Procedures.

Early Intervention

Early intervention is not obligatory and will not always be appropriate, but it can lead to a resolution where an honest and constructive conversation is possible. Such conversations may enable the person who experienced the bullying or harassment to explain how and why something was hurtful and enable the alleged bully or harasser to understand the consequences of their actions. If a member of the King’s Community believes they or another member of the King’s Community has been bullied or harassed, they may choose to:

• have an initial discussion with the alleged bully or harasser to raise their concerns;
• have an initial discussion with their own, or the alleged bully or harasser’s, line manager or supervisor to facilitate a constructive conversation or help address the situation;
• members of staff who do not feel comfortable approaching the relevant line manager or supervisor may ask for support from their HR People Partner; and
• students who do not feel comfortable approaching the relevant line manager or supervisor, may ask for support from a personal tutor or student adviser or, if this is not appropriate, from KCLSU’s Advice team.

Anonymous Disclosure

Report & Support is the university’s dedicated online space which allows staff, students and visitors to report concerns or request access to support. Report & Support also provides guidance and information articles about bullying, harassment hate incidents or sexual or physical violence, as well as information about the options and support available.

If you want to disclosure bullying and harassment anonymously you can do it via Report & Support.

King’s is committed to being an environment free from bullying and harassment, prejudice and discrimination. The purpose of this policy is to set out the expected behaviours of all members of the King’s Community (staff, students and visitors, both on our campuses and online) and to ensure that the range of options and support for staff and students who feel they have been bullied or harassed is clear.

The Bullying & Harassment policy outlines:

• Who is responsible for enacting and upholding the policy
• Definitions of bullying and harassment
• Behaviours and examples of behaviours that are not acceptable
• What to do in the instance of experiencing bullying and harassment, or being a witness to it
• Support available for the King's community

• Examples of bullying and harassment.

Report & Support

Report & Support is the university’s dedicated online space which allows staff, students and visitors to report concerns or request access to support. Report & Support also provides guidance and information articles about bullying, harassment hate incidents or sexual or physical violence, as well as information about the options and support available.

Bullying and Harassment

King’s College London is committed to providing and promoting a positive environment for all members of the College community, which is free from all forms of prejudice, discrimination, harassment and bullying.

King’s College London is committed to providing and promoting a positive environment for all members of the College community, which is free from all forms of prejudice, discrimination, harassment and bullying.

Report & Support is the university’s dedicated online space which allows staff, students and visitors to report concerns or request access to support. Report & Support also provides guidance and information articles about bullying, harassment hate incidents or sexual or physical violence, as well as information about the options and support available.

Safeguarding

This policy sets out the university’s duty to safeguard any child or adult at risk who either applies and is admitted as a student to King’s College London, or who comes into contact with King's College London as a result of university activities.

The policy and its related procedures apply to all university staff, students, freelance practitioners, student ambassadors, alumni, volunteers and any associated personnel representing the university.

• King's College London Safeguarding Policy and related procedures

Policies for Staff

Dignity at King's - Bullying and Harassment Policy

King’s is committed to being an environment free from bullying and harassment, prejudice and discrimination. The purpose of this policy is to set out the expected behaviours of all members of the King’s Community (staff, students and visitors, both on our campuses and online) and to ensure that the range of options and support for staff and students who feel they have been bullied or harassed is clear.

The policy outlines:

• Who is responsible for enacting and upholding the policy
• Definitions of bullying and harassment
• Behaviours and examples of behaviours that are not acceptable
• What to do in the instance of experiencing bullying and harassment, or being a witness to it
• Support available for the King's community

Grievance Procedures

Any reports of bullying, harassment, sexual misconduct or hate crime in relation to the behaviour of a King's staff member will be considered under the following Grievance Procedures:

• Grievance Procedure: Research, Teaching-only and Professional Services Staff (internal document)

• Regulation Pertaining to the Grievance Procedure for Academic Staff

King's is committed to protecting the dignity of all its staff and all grievance procedures are adhered to the following principles:

• The university and staff should raise and deal with issues promptly and should not unreasonably delay meetings, decisions or confirmation of those decisions.

• Managers and staff should act fairly, consistently and in good faith.

• Managers should carry out any necessary investigations to establish the facts of the case.

• A member of staff will have the right of appeal if they feel that a formal grievance has not been satisfactorily resolved, in accordance with the process for appeals as outlined in each procedure document.

Other relevant policies:

• Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Policy

• Trans Equality Guidance

• Disability Policy

• Information Disclosure (Whistleblowing) Policy

Policies for Students

Dignity at King's - Bullying and Harassment Policy

King’s is committed to being an environment free from bullying and harassment, prejudice and discrimination. The purpose of this policy is to set out the expected behaviours of all members of the King’s Community (staff, students and visitors, both on our campuses and online) and to ensure that the range of options and support for staff and students who feel they have been bullied or harassed is clear.

Misconduct Regulations

As members of the King’s community, students are expected to adhere to the regulations, procedures and policies of the university, to show respect for the persons within and for the property of the King’s community, and to behave in a way that does not interfere with the proper functioning or activities of the university.

Where there is reason to believe that the behaviour of a student falls below the expected standards set out in the guidance, and/or where regulations, procedures, and/or policies have been broken, the Misconduct Procedure will be instigated.

The information on this page has been moved to the internal Dignity at King's page.

We offer several training packages that support our work to prevent and challenge bullying, harassment, sexual misconduct and hate crime.

Staff training is focused on how to sensitively and confidently handle student disclosures. This training is delivered by a member of the Diversity & Inclusion team.

Student training is focused on building students' leadership skills by exploring 'Active Bystander' intervention so that students can help to foster a safe, respectful and supportive campus.

We want all members of the King’s community to be able to study and work in a safe and inclusive environment, where we all look out for one another. King’s College London and KCLSU have partnered together to promote Consent Matters training and the It Stops Here campaign.

The Course

We encourage all students at King’s to complete the interactive online Consent Matters course on KEATS.

You can find the course by following the steps below:

1.  Log onto KEATS.
2. In the top right hand corner of KEATS there is a search bar labelled 'search courses'. Search for 'It Stops Here Training Academy'.
3. Click enrol me & Enter the course

 The Modules

The course is split into three modules, each approximately 20 minutes in length and use a range of scenarios and animations.

• Module 1: Thinking about consent. Defining and understanding consent, so you know when you have it as well as when it can and can’t be given, whatever your gender or sexuality.

• Module 2: Communication skills and relationships. Recognising and asserting your own boundaries, and how to talk about boundaries with others.

• Module 3: Looking out for others. How to take simple, safe and effective steps to challenge harassment when you see it. 

Support

• Queries relating to IT (login issues, KEATS not working on a computer or mobile device), can be addressed to the IT Service Desk. 

• If you have questions about enrolments and learning materials, you can contact the administration, support and e-learning staff in your faculty.

• For more information you can contact the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion team via our enquiry form here. 

We want all students at King’s to feel part of a community, and we want to make sure that our university it supportive and inclusive and that people look out for one another.

This face-to-face training gives you the tools to:

• Understand the scope and context of harassment, sexual misconduct and hate crime in Universities

• Be aware of situations of harassment, sexual misconduct and hate crimes.

• Safely and effectively intervene in such situations using Active Bystander techniques

Our training is delivered by 2 members of the Diversity & Inclusion team. The training takes an hour and a half to complete.

Students can access the training through their Faculty D&I contacts, or contact the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion team via our enquiry form here.