What is Arc's position on gendered violence?

Arc is committed to making sure that everyone is safe - because we know that physical and psychological safety is essential for students' thriving while completing their studies. We design events and spaces that are safe for everyone, and where we aren't there (with affiliated Clubs) we make sure that training is completed by leaders. We take a victim-survivor centric position in response to gendered violence that empowers and enables them to control responses that maximise their safety and healing. We know that fear of retribution leads to lower reporting so we are committed to victim-survivor centric responses that are always confidential. 

How does Arc promote acceptable behaviours?

We know that our role is primarily through modelling inclusive and safe behaviours. We aim to educate UNSW students through engaging content and events. This is primarily delivered through:

• Be a Better Human: A masterbrand campaign developed by Flinders University Students' Association in 2019 that encourages everyone to get educated on the ways they can be a better ally, support person and citizen. Be A Better Human posts on Arc channels approximately every fortnight with content that educates on issues relating to inclusion, equity, diversity and access. Topics for Be A Better Human are developed in consultation with those with lived experience and frequently intersect with Gendered Violence. 
• Respect Week: A week-long on-campus event that promotes consent and respectful relationships. The event takes a preventative, postive and pro-active spin on consent conversations and uses gamification and incidental engagement to promote safe behaviours and bystander interventions. 
• One-off events: Throughout the calendar year Arc undertakes affirmative consent focused events that promoted respectful relationships, in particular behaviours of men in early dating scenarios. 
• Training: formal Gendered Violence awareness is training is mandatory for all 750 Club Executives, SRC/PGC Office Bearers and senior volunteers (More on this in the training point below).

What policy is in place?

At Arc we are committed to ensuring that our policies and regulations reflect our values and our commitment to student safety. In regards to gendered violence, we explicitly reference it in the following ways: 

• Gendered violence can be a criminal offence under NSW Legislation and is also governed by the UNSW Student Code of Conduct. 
• Arc Membership Terms & Conditions: Arc is committed to ensuring our events, programs and spaces are safe, inclusive, and free of harassment and discrimination. Arc is committed to preventation of gendered violence and members are expected to uphold these standards...Behaviour which Arc considers in its reasonable discretion conflicts with these standards/Arc’s values, or which breaches any separate Arc event Terms & Conditions, may result in a revocation of your Arc membership, or any other sanctions Arc considers appropriate in the circumstances. 
• Roundhouse Conditions of Entry: Roundhouse has zero tolerance for gendered violence and sexual harassment.
• Club Executives must comply with Affiliation requirements: Taking reasonable care for the Health & Safety of others
• Code of Conduct for Staff: Equity, diversity and inclusion is considered essential to Arc’s success. Arc celebrates diversity, in people, thoughts and ideas, as a diverse team can only increase the positive impact. Staff and affiliates are required to:
  
  1. Treat staff, affiliates, and members of the UNSW community with courtesy and respect always. This includes cooperating and collaborating with staff and affiliates; 
  2. Ensure they do not engage in unlawful discrimination, harassment, and sexual harassment; 
  3. Display skills, professionalism, care, and diligence in the performance of their duties at all times to maintain the organisation’s good reputation refrain from acting in any way that would unfairly harm the reputation and career prospects of other staff, affiliates, or students

How does Arc protect students from gendered violence? 

We know that prevention, protection and responding to gendered violence takes ongoing training and resources, so here's how we do it:

• Arc Staff: All Arc Staff receive training on sex-based harassment as part of onboarding and this is refreshed every year. Additionally Arc staff are encouraged to complete UNSW's Students in Distress eLearning Module.
• Dedicated roles: We have 3 dedicated staff at Arc available to discuss Gendered Violence with students. These roles are Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Coordinator, Legal & Advocacy Manager and Clubs Coordinator (Wellbeing & Training). You can confidentially speak with any of these staff members at any time by emailing genderedviolence@arc.unsw.edu.au.  
• Grievance Officers: All Clubs & Societies are required to have a dedicated Grievance Officer who is elected and trained in Term 3 of each year. Additional Gendered Violence training is available to all Club Executives and all Club Executives are supported by the Arc Clubs team.
• Overnight events portal: All Clubs are required to disclose overnight events to Arc, and follow the safety items on the event planning checklist. This includes advice on alcohol, activities and supervision ratios. 

What training is available?

Arc supports the ambition for UNSW to deliver meaningful consent training to all students. Alongside this we want all student leaders to complete gendered violence prevention and response training that is relevant to their role. This includes: 

• Gendered Misconduct Module: A Moodle module for all Club's Grievance Officers, that is available to any student leader of executive to complete at any time. It highlights the importance of culture, prevention, reporting, responding and supporting. 
• Gendered Violence Awareness & Response Training: Delivered in collaboration with GVRN, this 90-minute in person session is free for any student leader to attend and highly recommended for senior volunteers, club executives and office bearers.
• Grievance Officer Training: In person training delivered to new Grievance Officers in Term 3 of each year. The session includes promoting EDI and creating safe spaces for everyone.

How does Arc collaborate with UNSW on gendered violence? 

Based on the advice of UNSW Gendered Violence Research Network (GVRN) we know that a single portal for reporting gendered violence ensures that victim-survivors are afforded the most support with the least retraumatisation. For this reason, Arc supports reporting through the UNSW Gendered Violence Reporting Portal. This ensures that victim-survivors are empowered to respond in a way that is appropriate for their circumstances with a range of options. 

What else is Arc doing?

We know that the gendered violence prevention and support space is evolving as more evidence-based information becomes available. Here's of the activities we have recently completed or are due for completion by June 2024:

• Redeveloped Clubs Training relating to overnight events, alcohol and consent (completed in 2023)
• Developed Overnight Events Portal (completed in 2023) including planning checklist and risk assessment template
• Additional staff resourcing for clubs with the creation of the Clubs Coordinator (Training & Wellbeing) role to provide additional support to Clubs in engaging their members (completed in 2023).
• Creation of Clubs Culture Review working group to discuss championing positive behaviours in clubs (completed in 2023)
• Additional staff training in Gendered Violence Responding (ongoing)
• Complete external review of Clubs Complaints Framework & Portal (ongoing)
• Complete external review of Clubs Training & Risk Management with Core Integrity (ongoing)
• Collaborate with UNSW on SpeakUp campaign that models positive behaviours and encourages reporting. Collaborating means we give input on the look and feel of the campaign and will share the materials on our social media (ongoing)

How can you contribute?

We are always eager for more feedback from students on how we can make your experiences better and campus safer. You can confidentially email us with your comments and suggestions at genderedviolence@arc.unsw.edu.au.