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Third Level Education

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 November 2021

Tuesday, 30 November 2021

Questions (111)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor

Question:

111. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the progress made regarding the Framework for Consent in Higher Education Institutions: Safe, Respectful, Supportive and Positive: Ending Sexual Violence and Harassment in Irish Higher Education Institutions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58622/21]

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Written answers

Significant progress has been made regarding the Framework for Consent in Higher Education, since it was first launched in 2019. The Framework aims to ensure the creation of an institutional campus culture which is safe, respectful and supportive.

In August 2020, I wrote to all the Presidents of the publicly funded higher education institutions, with a view to strengthening institutional action in the area of consent. Institutions were requested to produce individual action plans on tackling sexual violence and harassment and to submit these to the HEA Centre of Excellence for Gender Equality, whose responsibilities have been expanded to cover all areas of equality, diversity and inclusion, as well as oversight of the implementation of the Framework for Consent in HEIs.

As part of monitoring requirements moving forward, the HEA requires that institutions, in respect of both staff and students, report progress annually on implementation of the Framework for Consent. These HEI reports will shortly be received and analysed by the HEA, with a view to establishing a clear picture of institutional work undertaken in this area and identifying any priority areas where action may still need to be taken.

My Department has provided support for a number of consent awareness raising and training initiatives in the HEIs, including the:

- NUIG Active Consent Programme

- UCC Bystander Training

- Speak Out report and support online platform

- The ESHTE Toolkit and It Stops Now Campaign led by the NWCI in conjunction with USI.

My Department is partnering with the Department of Justice and the NUIG Active Consent programme to support the development of an online hub, that will provide, for the first time, an integrated, publicly available resource on sexual consent awareness and learning, which will be an important resource for our further and higher education institutions and the wider community.

The IUA has published guidelines entitled 'Guidelines for Universities on How to Respond to Alleged Staff or Student of University Related Sexual Misconduct', which are available to assist HEIs in this area.

THEA launched their PROPEL Report (Promoting Consent and Preventing Sexual Violence), in March 2021, with funding from my Department. The PROPEL report details key components and options for inclusion in institutional action plans, outline of best practice and guidelines for emerging policies and procedures in this area and a series of conclusions and recommendations.

At my request, the HEA has carried out surveys of Staff and Students in higher education regarding their experiences of Sexual Harassment and Violence, the report is in the final stages of completion and will be published in the coming weeks. This will provide an evidence base to inform future policy in this area.

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