Statutory inquiry under section 16 and schedule 2 of the Equality Act 2006 into racial harassment of staff and students at publicly funded Higher Education Institutions and the routes available for accessible and effective redress.

Terms of Reference

1. To understand the types of racial harassment experienced by staff and students at publicly funded Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and where these incidents take place.

2. To understand the extent to which publicly funded HEIs provide routes to redress through which staff and students can report incidents of racial harassment and the extent to which these are available and accessible.

3. To understand what constitutes effective action in response to a report of racial harassment and the extent to which the routes to redress which are available to students and staff in publicly funded HEIs result in effective action.

4. Where the routes to redress through which staff and students in publicly funded HEIs can report racial harassment are not available or accessible, or do not result in effective action, to make recommendations for improvements which will better enable staff and students to obtain redress following an incident of racial harassment at those institutions.

5. To assess whether the statutory and other legal responsibilities of publicly funded HEIs to staff and students at those institutions who experience racial harassment are adequate to ensure the provision of available, accessible and effective routes to redress.

6. The timeframe for the inquiry is from the 2015/16 academic year to date.

7. Interpretation:

a. ‘Racial harassment’ in this inquiry means when someone engages in unwanted behaviour which is related to a person’s perceived or actual race, and which has the purpose or effect of:

i. Violating that person’s dignity, or

ii. Creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that person.

Racial harassment includes harassment which relates to race and another protected characteristic set out at section 4 of the Equality Act 2010, i.e. age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.

Racial harassment covers:

i. University staff on student harassment;

ii. University staff on staff harassment;

iii. Student on student harassment; and

iv. Student on staff harassment.

v. Third party on student or staff harassment.

b. ‘Race’ in this inquiry has the same meaning as set out at section 9 of the Equality Act 2010. Race includes: colour; nationality; and ethnic and national origins.

c. ‘Publicly funded Higher Education Institutions’ means HEIs in England, Wales and Scotland that received funding from the Office for Students, the Scottish Funding Council, and the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales in the academic year 2018/2019. A list of publicly funded HEIs can be found on the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (the Commission) website.