Disclosure guidance for staff
This page contains advice for you to share with current students. If you are a staff member and have experienced any form of gender based violence please refer to the Gender-based violence (including Sexual Misconduct) policy. You can report instances of Gender-based violence using the University's online Report + Support tool.
If you are approached by a student for advice and support in relation to any unwanted behaviour that may involve sexual harassment or with regards to an alleged sexual assault, please outline the options available to them:
Use the Report and Support Tool.
You can contact Student Services on +44 (0)1334 462020 for advice and support or to make an appointment for the student. Outside office hours (evenings and weekends), please call +44 (0)1334 468999 and ask to speak to the Student Services duty manager.
You can also report any form of sexual misconduct which you, or someone you know has experienced using the Report and Support tool. You can either choose to make a report anonymously, or report with contact details so that the Student Conduct Officer can get in touch with you.
Please be aware that if you ask a lot of questions regarding the incident, or note anything down, you may be called as a witness if the student reports the incident to the police.
If a student sends a School an email reporting this in the context of an academic adjustment, such as deferred coursework submission, please reply to the email with sensitivity and include a link to the sexual misconduct guidance and advice page as well as contact information for Student Services (theasc@st-andrews.ac.uk) and the Student Conduct Officer (studentconduct@st-andrews.ac.uk).
If you need advice and support with regards to handling a student disclosure, you can call Student Services on +44 (0)1334 46 2020 (or +44 (0)1334 46 8999 in an emergency during evenings and weekends) or email theasc@st-andrews.ac.uk.
Confidentiality
Please reassure the student that the University recognises the importance of privacy in cases where sexual misconduct is alleged and that confidentiality will be maintained as far as possible unless otherwise agreed.
The University will not normally report details of an incident of sexual misconduct to the police without the complainant’s permission. However, in exceptional circumstances the University may exercise its right to pass information to the police where there is believed to be a continuing risk to the student reporting the incident or a risk to others.