Changing the culture
We’re determined to tackle all forms of hate including abuse, harassment and prejudice. This behaviour is never OK and will never be tolerated here. Join us in making our community feel safe and supportive for everyone.
Whether you have experienced abuse, harassment or prejudice, witnessed this type of behaviour, or just want to be a part of changing the culture, we have a range of support for you. In the resources below we cover activities you can get involved in, ways to expand your knowledge and the teams and services here to support you.
Get involved
Kick It Out football tournament and academy
We’re teaming up with Kick It Out, an organization fighting against discrimination in football. You can help us kick out discrimination by:
- Joining us on Wednesday 5 February 2025 to support a 5-a-side football tournament. Students from across the University are taking part. Kick off starts at 12:00noon on the 3G Pitch.
- Signing up to The Academy; a free platform that allows you to take courses from allyship to race and religion, so you’ll be ready to help kick out discrimination.
Expand your knowledge
Understanding consent
We all have a responsibility to make sure we understand and practice consent and understand what constitutes sexual misconduct to keep everyone in our community safe and supported. Do your part to ensure you understand consent by:
Report It
We prioritise the safety and wellbeing of our students, colleagues and visitors. We believe that abuse, harassment and prejudice of any kind are never OK. If you or someone you know has experienced or witnessed such behaviour, or has a safeguarding concern, please report it to us via Report It. Staff members are encouraged to find additional information about staff reporting via Report It on the Staff Hub.
Additional resources
Want to learn more about a specific area? Taking some time to make sure you understand subjects like consent and racism will build your confidence in how to challenge these behaviours and support anyone experiencing them. Select a topic below to explore further options.
Hate crime
Sexual misconduct
- Guide to understanding consent
- Complete the free Consent Module (via Blackboard)
- Stories of survivors of sexual violence
- Help with for forensic medical examination, counselling and aftercare
Become an ambassador
Respect, Culture and Behaviours Ambassadors
If you want to take a more active role in helping us change the culture, our voluntary ambassador roles might suite you. Ambassadors can serve a variety of different roles including:
- Act as volunteers at events run by the team throughout the year
- Access training related to our remits
- Feedback to the team on process changes, campaigns
- Be active bystanders by challenging inappropriate behaviour (where it is safe to do so) or reporting instances on report-it.
- Acting as a source of information for other students by talking to them about report-it and how to make a report (we will show them how to do this)
I want to get involved! What's the process to sign-up?
Please contact the Respect, Culture and Behaviours team, at report-it@salford.ac.uk.
White Ribbon Ambassadors and Champions
We are a White Ribbon accredited University, meaning we have a firm commitment to ending men’s violence and abuse against women. White Ribbon Champions are those who support the mission alongside White Ribbon Ambassadors, who are men. Together they work together to make positive change by:
- Having open conversations about violence against women and girls and the role that we all play in preventing it. There's a group meeting every six weeks
- Attending and hosting events at Freshers, for International Women’s Day and on White Ribbon Day
- Knowing where help is available so they can support others within our university community
- Calling out and reporting sexism and harassment
- Helping to develop key projects. Previously, students have led a project to raise awareness of coercive control and gaslighting.
I want to get involved! What's the process to sign-up?
Please contact Annie Wood, our White Ribbon Champion.
“As a male I feel it is important to become involved in working to end male violence against women. As a senior colleague, I feel I am in a position of being able to help shape the culture and challenge sexist and misogynistic behavior towards women.” - Neil Withnell, Associate Dean Academic (Student Experience)
“I have become a White Ribbon Ambassador because I want to take some action about what I feel is an epidemic of violence against women, helping to change the cultures that lead to this.”- Dominic Broadhurst, Head of Content & Discovery at The Library
Report It
If you experience or witness concerning behaviour let us know via Report It. It’s important to speak up so we know what’s happening on and around campus, we can do something about it and ensure you get the right support. You can report anonymously too.
SafeZone
Download SafeZone on your phone (it’s free!) to ensure you can access emergency or urgent assistance when you or someone around you needs it. At a touch of the button, you’ll be connected to our Security team.
You can use SafeZone across our campuses and in Manchester city centre as we are part of the Greater Manchester Universities alliance. This means Security at Salford, University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan Universities are here to help you.
We know you might not need it now, but you could at some point. Be safe and download the app now.
Tips to stay safe on campus
- Head to our blog to find different ways you can keep safe on and around campus.
Our work so far
The Respect, Culture and Behaviours team are here to support students who experience any form of abuse or harassment whilst at university. We believe that bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, domestic abuse, stalking, physical violence racism and microaggressions are never OK.
We have a team of specially trained advisers who can support students who may be experiencing these issues. Anyone can report abuse or harassment to the team, using the Report It. We will ensure that anyone who makes a report to us, will be offered support and advice on their options. We want to create a safe and inclusive campus for all here at Salford.
The team is always working to find ways to celebrate our differences and offer support to people and communities that need it. See the past events and activities they have organised below.
To remember those who’ve lost their lives to Honour Base Abuse, we've planted a memorial tree outside University House.
For Sexual Violence Awareness Week 2024, Everyone’s Invited delivered a talk on rape culture. They explained how rape culture exists in society, the factors that contribute to it, and how we can all challenge this culture.
For Hate Crime Awareness Week 2024, Kick it Out joined us for a penalty shootout outside the Science, Engineering & Environment (SEE) Building on Peel Park campus.
In August 2022 we received our White Ribbon Accreditation, after making a firm commitment to ending men’s violence and abuse against women.
To mark Stephen Lawrence Day 2023, Dr Neville Lawrence (Stephen’s dad) delivered a special guest lecture on Peel Park campus.
Gender-Based Steering Group - colleagues from across the university look at how we are responding to gender based violence. The group focus over the next 12 months will be around ensuring the university is working towards compliance with the new Office for Students conditions of registration around sexual harassment and misconduct.
Higher Education Hate Crime Network – This is a cross-university network that provides a confidential space for those who work with victims of hate crime to come together and discuss some of the issues they are seeing in higher education and share good practices across the sector.
Victim Friendly Organisation – We’re collaborating with victim support to look at how we can ensure we are creating safer spaces for students and staff who have been victims of crime. We also have trained specific staff around how to be trauma informed and there are plans to further develop training to roll out to other departments across the university.