Of the 266 policies we received from HEIs, over 60% did not even have the word "online" within them. When we explored the dearth of knowledge around online safeguarding for students in the sector we were frequently met with the same response – this is not a priority for our institution. Indeed, one institution stated in response to our request that, given all students are adults, safeguarding is not their concern.
While the press coverage of high profile cases has certainly raised more public interest in whether universities are supporting students who are harassed online, there is still much debate around whether this is even something that universities should be concerned about. The argument against this has a number of common elements:
We know from our work, however, that universities are certainly not oases from online abuse, and abuse occurs from that existing below a legal threshold, such as online pestering and "banter" that goes too far, to the criminal such as image-based abuse and harassment. Students are certainly victims of abuse, and impacts can be long term, with students disclosing they have withdrawn from the university experience for fear of further abuse, isolation, and severe mental health impacts.
We are beginning to see a growing expectation of university responsibility for student welfare, such as the letter from the then higher education minister Sam Gym ..
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