This page outlines the Institute’s policies and procedures for preventing and responding to harassment and sexual misconduct. It also includes guidance on intimate personal relationships between IIS staff and students.

It serves as the single, comprehensive source of information required by the Office for Students.

What is harassment and sexual misconduct?

Unlawful harassment refers to unwanted behaviour relating to a relevant protected characteristic (age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation) and that has the purpose or effect of violating the other person’s dignity, or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that person.

Harassment can occur as a single incident or through repeated actions and what matters most is the impact of the behaviour, not the intent behind it.

Sexual misconduct is a specific form of harassment involving inappropriate sexual behaviour. Examples of unacceptable behaviour include, but are not limited to:

  • Sexual harassment and violence
  • Intimate partner violence
  • Sexual assault and grooming
  • Threats or bullying with sexual elements
  • Unwanted sexual comments or gestures
  • Creating uncomfortable or sexually charged environments
  • Offering benefits or opportunities in exchange for sexual favours or hindering equal access to these, or to career advancement
  • Sharing explicit images or videos without consent

For full definitions, please refer to the IIS Discrimination, Harassment and Bullying Policy, and the Sexual Misconduct, Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence Policy. These, along with other student policies, can be found at the link below.

Explore policies and procedures

How does it work

There are different ways of reporting an incident of Harassment or Sexual Misconduct to IIS, informally or formally.

Report + Support

From the beginning of the academic year, anyone can informally report an incident of Harassment, Hate, Bullying, Sexual Misconduct, Domestic Violence or Discrimination via Report + Support platform.

Report + Support is a web-based reporting platform that can be used by yourself or on behalf of someone else.

If you report on behalf of yourself, you can choose to report anonymously or to include your contact information. If you include your contact information, IIS will be able to put you in touch with specialist support. More information about this can be found below in the ‘support available’ section.

If you report anonymously, we will not be able to offer any individual support because we will not know who you are. However, we will be able to monitor all reports made and this may allow us to address concerns that are raised to enhance the safe work and study environment to which IIS is committed.

Informing a member of staff

If you report an incident to a staff member at the Institute – whether in person, by email, or through any other method – they will direct you to the Report + Support platform. There, you can formally log the incident and find information about available support services.

The staff member is also required to record the incident. If you choose not to seek further support and there is no immediate safety concern, they can do this without including your personal details. However, if there’s an urgent risk to anyone’s safety, the staff member must contact emergency services and/or share relevant information with the Student Support team to ensure a proper risk assessment and that everyone involved receives appropriate support.

Reporting an incident formally

If someone within IIS community acts in a way you believe constitutes harassment or sexual misconduct, and you would like the Institute to investigate, you can submit a formal report using the appropriate process:

  • Students and staff should report incidents to the IIS Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), Kate Holt.

Reports can be made in person to the DSL or by emailing kholt@iis.ac.uk. Should the DSL be unavailable, or an individual feels unable to report an incident to the DSL, reports can be made by email to the Safeguarding Officer, Rakeeza Kanth at rkanth@iis.ac.uk.

Students who have experienced Harassment or Sexual Misconduct can access support and advice from our student support staff in confidence.

Support information will also be available on the IIS Report + Support platform. You don’t need to log an incident to access the information on any of these platforms and the incident for which you seek support do not need to have taken place since your enrolment with IIS.

The Institute also uses an external counselling service that can be accessed through the Student Portal.

Students facing any allegations relating to Harassment or Sexual Misconduct will also be provided with a named staff member who they can contact for support.

Maintaining confidentiality is essential to fostering an environment where individuals feel safe to report incidents relating to the issues described above. IIS is committed to taking all reasonable measures to protect the privacy of those who come forward. However, in certain situations – such as when someone may be at risk – it may be necessary to share information either within IIS or with external agencies.

The Student Disciplinary Policy and the Staff Disciplinary Policy set out how allegations will be investigated fairly, including timescales, stages, penalties and appeal provisions.

  • Students will be sent a link to this web page and asked to read it as part of their enrolment each year
  • Staff will explain our approach during mandatory induction sessions for all first year students
  • During their first year of study at the IIS, students will be provided with access to an e-learning course that addresses understanding consent and the laws around it. We will be evaluating the efficacy of the e-learning during the 25-26 academic year.

As part of the schedule of mandatory training for staff during the academic year, all staff will take an e-learning course about addressing Harassment and Sexual Misconduct in Higher Education.

IIS is committed to fostering professional, respectful relationships between staff and students, grounded in trust, fairness, and integrity. Personal relationships between staff and students can undermine these values.

Staff are strongly discouraged from forming personal relationships with students they interact with in any academic, administrative, or professional capacity. Even if such relationships are disclosed, they may still result in disciplinary action – particularly when the staff member holds a position of trust.

If a personal relationship already exists or develops during a student’s time at IIS, the staff member must report it in accordance with the Staff and Student Relationships Policy available on CIPHR.

IIS will not use non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) relating to complaints of any form of sexual misconduct, or other forms of harassment and bullying. Since September 2024, the Office for Students has prohibited higher education providers from using NDAs in relation to student allegations of harassment and sexual misconduct.

In this section, you will find previous versions of policies that have addressed issues relating to Sexual Misconduct and Harassment.