NUS Women's campaign work on Lad Culture has developed from investigating the presence of sexual harassment and assault on campus. In doing so, we discovered that sexual harassment and assault is one of the many symptoms of a more complex problem. Since 2010 we’ve been working with students to raise awareness of the issues and create inclusive solutions. 

2010

Hidden Marks

Hidden Marks is the first ever nationwide report into women students’ experience of harassment, stalking, violence and sexual assault. The report revealed that one in seven women students that responded to the survey had experienced a serious physical or sexual assault during their time as a student.

2013

That's what she said

That’s What She Said is the result of a piece of qualitative research around campus culture, the experiences of women students, and the student movement’s role in shaping both of these. 

Confronting ‘lad culture’ in higher education consultation

The consultation and call for evidence on ‘lad culture’ in higher education was designed as part of a process to involve all stakeholders in identifying the solutions to the issue of ‘lad culture’ on campus, as previously identified by research published in NUS’ That’s what she said report.

2014

Lad Culture Summit

We held a Lad Culture Summit in London and invited students, staff and various different organisations to discuss the impact of lad culture and what different sectors had done to tackle the issues on UK Campuses. 

The National Lad Culture Strategy Team

We created the National Lad Culture Strategy Team to develop the national strategy and support students’ unions and institutions in identifying the culture on their campuses in relation to the report results, develop and release resources to help tackle lad culture. While empowering education communities to lead their own institutional changes. The team includes, students unions, and a range of external stakeholders. 

Lad Culture and Sexism Survey

We surveyed over 2,000 men and women students about their experiences of lad culture and sexism on campus. The research revealed that one in four students (26 per cent) have suffered unwelcome sexual advances, defined as inappropriate touching and groping, with women more likely to experience it than men.

2015

Lad Culture Audit report

The lad culture audit report is the results of a detailed analysis of the policies and practices that universities and students’ unions have in place in relation to combatting lad culture and supporting victims and survivors on campus. 

Government Task Force Announcement

Business Secretary Sajid Javid announces the creation of a taskforce to help reduce violence against women and girls on university campuses.

Lad Culture and Sexism Survey

We re-did our Lad Culture and Sexism Survey with the aim to find out the extent to which students had either been victims of or witnesses to sexual harassment during their first week of term. Our data showed that 61 per cent of first-year students are not aware of procedures to report sexual harassment incidents at their universities. 17 per cent of respondents stated they had been victims of some form of sexual harassment during their first week of term, with a further 29 per cent having witnessed it directed at somebody else.

2016

UUK taskforce reviews Zellick Guidelines 

UUK taskforce announced they will review the Zellick guidelines to bring them into line with human rights legislation and universities’ duty of care to students. The NUS Women's campaign has been campaigning for the rejection of the outdated Zellick Guidelines which poorly advise universities on how to deal with reports of sexual assault.

Tackling Lad Culture Conference

We held a conference bringing together activists from across the country to showcase what our Lad Culture Pilot Unions had being doing during the pilot year and to launch our new resources. At the conference the pilot unions facilitated workshops to teach student activists and staff members about how to create a long term and effective strategy to challenge lad culture on campus.