Harassment support

The ISVA service is independent from other ARU support services

The ISVA service sits within the Counselling and Wellbeing service, but is independent from other support services within ARU; this means if you are accessing ISVA support, you can choose to do so confidentially. You will have the choice of meeting the ISVA:

• Face-to-face at ARU in Cambridge
• Face-to-face at Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre to ensure confidentiality and anonymity (CRCC is local to the Cambridge East Road Cambridge campus)
• At another suitable community venue, such as a local doctor’s surgery
• On Teams or via telephone support

Support options from the ISVA

Your ISVA can support you in a range of different ways, and the service will be catered to your needs and choices. Some examples of support are listed here:

• Reporting to the police
• The ISVA understands how overwhelming the police process can be and is fully trained to support you so that you understand your options in the criminal justice system. . She can support you if you are considering reporting, support you from the initial report, and attend court with you if your case reaches this stage. She can also support you if you are not satisfied with the outcome of the investigation, and if needed to help you make a complaint if you feel there have been failings with the investigation. The ISVA is independent from the police so will not share information without your consent. You do not have to report to the police to access ISVA support.
• Internal complaints process at ARU
  Like the police process, reporting sexual violence to ARU through the official complaints process should be your choice. This might be an option you want to consider if the perpetrator is a student or member of staff at ARU. You do not have to raise a formal complaint to ARU to access ISVA support. You can find out more about the complaints processes here.
• Informal internal reporting process
  If the perpetrator is a student at ARU and you do not wish to make a formal complaint, then the ISVA can help support you to make an informal report to ensure that you can continue with your studies safely. This might include a ‘No Contact Order’.
• Sexual violence based emotional support
  Experiencing sexual violence of any form can lead to many feelings, like isolation, shame, or self-blame. Your ISVA can explore these feelings with you, help you to develop coping strategies, and can also refer you to a counsellor.
• Informed choices session
  If you are unsure about what steps to take, or just want to explore your options, you can book an informed choices session with the ISVA. The ISVA will not pressure you to make any decisions but can provide information so that you can make the decision that is right for you.
• Support to apply for mitigation
  Where the sexual violence you have experienced is impacting your studies, the ISVA can write support letters to help with your applications to extend deadlines.
• Safety planning
  If you are concerned about your safety, the ISVA can help you make a safety plan.
• Financial applications
  If you are struggling financially as a result of the sexual violence, the ISVA can help you apply for financial support.

When you refer to the ISVA service you will be contacted about your referral within five working days.

The ISVA service offers 4 – 6 initial emotional support sessions. After this you will be offered ongoing advocacy support for as long as needed, which is different for each survivor. If you want further emotional support, the ISVA service can help refer you for counselling if this is something you would like.

You can disclose and refer for ISVA support on ARU’s disclosure tool, Unsilenced. You can self-refer through Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre where ARU is co-located via this form, or you can ask a member of ARU staff or a professional you are working with outside of the university to make a referral on your behalf via the above Unsilenced form.

If someone makes a referral on your behalf, the ISVA will contact you to ask if you consented to the referral for support and make sure you are aware of the referral. If you did not consent or were not aware that the referral was being made, the ISVA will not put any pressure on you to engage with the support.

If you have reported to the police, they should offer you a referral for ISVA support and can make a referral to Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre on your behalf.

Please note that if you are studying in Chelmsford or Peterborough and have reported to the police, you might be offered a referral for ISVA support from the local Rape Crisis Centre to your campus to support you with the criminal justice process. The ARU ISVA can still support you with internal ARU advocacy support needs.

If you have questions about the service and you’re not sure if you want to make a referral, you can contact the ISVA on wellbeing@aru.ac.uk

The HSOs are comprised of existing staff from a variety of departments within the university and ARU Students’ Union. We currently have 18 trained HSOs in place across Cambridge, Chelmsford and Peterborough.

HSOs are trained to listen to students in the event of bullying, harassment, discrimination and hate crime without making a judgement. HSOs offer personalised signposting to support (both within ARU and externally), and can signpost to the formal reporting options available (both within ARU and externally), enabling students to make informed decisions.

HSOs are not counsellors or advocates and cannot take responsibility for solving the problem, however they offer a point of contact for students to discuss their situation. The HSOs are equipped to identify and monitor any risk involved in individual cases, and protocols are in place to enable the management of any risk that may arise.

Current ARU students are able to contact the HSO service by completing the Report an incident and get support online form and a HSO will contact them within one working day.