Hello, it is your new Welfare and Community Officer here! I am so excited for the year ahead and to meet you. Remember you can always come up to me for a chat or feel free to drop me an email, I am here for you l.macdonald@leedsbeckett.ac.uk.

My main objective this year is on improving student safety with a focus on sexual well-being and consent. To start of my term, I am going to gather research about our student population and its perceptions of consent and sexual misconduct within the university setting. The reason for this is so that the Student’s Union can understand the issues in further detail and focus on improving it in the areas that need it the most.

To get your voice heard and get involved, please fill in our Student Safety & Consent Survey here. 
 

What I hope to find out:

By conducting this research, I hope to create a greater picture of how students are affected by poor consent knowledge and sex education. In particular I want to find out what places students feel most unsafe in, what students think could be done to create a healthier culture and overall, hear the experiences of students that relates to their sexual health.

Why this objective?

Sexual well-being is a vital part of one’s overall well-being therefore, it is crucial to acknowledge it and work towards improving it. Like many other students, I often felt that rape culture was prevalent at university and this needs change in order for students to fully thrive and enjoy their time at university.

Recently, many issues have come into the limelight that surround the ongoing issue of sexual assault in wider society. The murder case of Sarah Everard in March (2021) highlighted the need for improved street safety and the still patriarchal structures and systems in place in society. There has also been the “Everyone’s Invited” campaign which has encouraged individuals to share their testimonies of sexual assault and expose institutions that have not taken suitable actions to prevent assault or support their survivors. Find more information here, https://www.everyonesinvited.uk/.

Overall, the Consent is Sexy campaign aims to create a healthier culture in Leeds Beckett around consent and sex. By doing this I hope these discussions about consent become the norm and are replicated in the wider society. Education is key with preventing sexual assault and it is important to remember that the biggest changes in society can sometimes come from the most individual changes.

If you have been affected by sexual assault and need support, please seek help, and remember you can also report it to the university:

- Zero Tolerance

- Zero Tolerance - Immediate Support

- rapecrisis.org.uk

- NHS - Sexual Health - Sexual Assault