
Violence, discrimination and harassment of any kind has no place at our School - we all have a responsibility to treat others with respect and dignity, working together to build a safe and welcoming institution for everyone at LSE.
If you have experienced, or witnessed, any form of sexual violence, discrimination (Including racial incidents), bullying or harassment, and you want to report this to LSE, you can do this in two different ways.
1. You can first speak to a Safe Contact who will be able to offer further information and support to help you decide if you would like to report your experience to LSE.
2. You can also report to LSE directly by using the online form Report it Stop it. This report can be completely anonymous. You can also choose to share your name and some brief contact details, if you want someone from LSE to contact you. We are only able to respond to you where you include your name and contact details.
Frequently asked questions
The information provided in this form will be kept confidential and stored securely.
More information on how your information will be used can be found in the form.
The online reporting form will ask you to share some information about the experience(s) you’re reporting. This includes asking you:
- to give a brief description of what happened – this can be as much or as little as you want and feel able to share
- whether you are a staff member or a student
- if you think the violent or harassing behaviour was directed at you due to your sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, religion, age or class
- if there is a particular response or action that you would like us to consider
If you’re reporting on your own behalf, we’ll ask for some monitoring information, which helps us to identify and address any reporting patterns.
Student reports are passed on to the Student Services Advice team. Staff reports are communicated to the Human Resources partners.
Your identity and your other personal data will be disclosed within LSE on a need-to-know basis only and will not be disclosed to any third parties without your consent unless there are legitimate reasons requiring us to do so – for example, where the information you have provided highlights a potential risk to an individual or relates to a possible criminal offence. In these circumstances, we may disclose the information to the police and/or other members of staff within LSE.
Just provide as much information as you can – this could include a description of how you know the person(s), e.g. as a member of your class group, or someone you regularly see in the same place on campus/in halls.
Student Services or Human Resources will review your report, including the section that states what action you would like to be taken.
In particular, we may use the information that you have provided to help us:
- Identify the best adviser for you to speak to in relation to your experience
- Provide the advisers with your contact details (if you have provided them) and some useful background information that will enable them to understand the nature of your experience
- Investigate your report and take further action (where applicable and if required), e.g. to carry out disciplinary action and/or assist the police with any criminal action if your report relates to a potential crime.
- Identify patterns and trends in the experiences reported across the institution. This is part of LSE's commitment to responding to sexual violence, bullying, harassment and hate crime effectively and to strengthen our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion. No names or other identifying information will be included in the data that we use for these reporting purpose
This is a common and natural response to experiences of bullying, harassment, hate crime and sexual violence. If what someone else’s behaviour has left you feeling uncomfortable, confused, threatened, scared or violated then it is likely that what they did wasn’t okay.
If you feel in any way that your experience was a form of discrimination, sexual violence or harassment we would invite you to make a report so that we can respond appropriately.
There is no time limit for you to report any incident of sexual violence, discrimination, bullying or harassment that you experienced or witnessed. LSE takes all reports extremely seriously and will investigate to the best of our ability, no matter when an incident took place.
If you have provided your name and contact details, then we will respond initially within three working days. We will take into account anything you have written about your preferred outcome or action, and an adviser will contact you to discuss this. If you do not provide your name or contact details, you will not recieve any reply to your report.
If you are in an emergency and need an urgent response or support, then please check the list of emergency support contacts under item '9) I need some urgent assistance – who can I contact?' below.
If you are in immediate danger, or are in an emergency and need an urgent response and support, please contact one of the support services below:
- The Havens provide specialist health and medical support in London for people who have been raped or sexually assaulted.
- Details of other emergency medical services are available online at the London Ambulance Service website
- The Metropolitan Police, including The Sapphire Unit (which investigates rape and other forms of sexual violence)
- LSE Security
Any experience of sexual violence, harassment or hate crime can be reported to the police. If the person who behaved abusively to you is another LSE student or staff member, you can also choose to report this to LSE through the online form and steps described above.
Reporting to the police and to LSE are entirely separate processes with different procedures and possible responses and outcomes. LSE staff and external organisations can support you in considering whether or not you want to report to the police and/or LSE.
If you are considering whether you want to report some form of sexual violence, including rape or childhood sexual abuse, you can contact an external Independent Sexual Violence Advocate first, for emotional and practical support.
Any decision to report experiences of sexual violence and harassment to LSE or to the police is completely yours. Each person will have different thoughts and feelings around whether they want to or feel able to do this. Whether you decide to report or not, you do deserve and have a right to further support.
Please visit our 'Sources of support' page for more information on what support is available at LSE and from external organisations.
You can also find further information via our guide for reporting sexual harassment or sexual violence as a student, and a guide for staff to handling cases of student sexual violence, harassment and abuse.