What support is available for Sexual Violence?

If you are concerned about anyone tracking your use of this or other related sites, then find out how to cover your tracks online.

Report to A & E: Call 999 and request an ambulance (if you are on campus, you can also call the Security emergency number 020 7882 3333), or attend any hospital A&E department. 

Report to Police: Call 999 or attend any local Police station and you can request to speak to a specially trained Sexual Offences Liaison Officer (SOLO or SOIT).

Rights of Women have detailed advice about reporting a sexual offence to the police.

If it is not an emergency, you can speak to your GP/healthcare professional or call the Police non-emergency number 101 or attend any local Police station.

There are also a lot of confidential and independent support organisations that can support you:

You can call them on 020 3299 6900, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for an initial assessment and they will aim to see you within 90 minutes for an urgent forensic medical examination (FME). 

There are three Havens in London (Camberwell, Whitechapel and Paddington) and these are jointly funded by the NHS and Police. The medical and emotional support services are confidential. They will not tell anyone you’ve contacted or seen them unless you want them to. You can use any of their services without involving the Police. 

The Havens also offer follow-up care, including counselling, tests and treatments.

Queen Mary Support for Students

Report and Support: you can report an incident using the Queen Mary’s Report and Support system. You can choose to do this anonymously or you can request support by filling in the form with your contact details.  If requesting support, you will be referred to Advice and Counselling. In the case of reporting with contact details and requesting an investigation, a member of the Academic Appeals, Conduct and Complaints team will discuss with you whether your report can be dealt with under the Code of Student Discipline.

Sexual Assault and Harassment Adviser (SAHA): The SAHA is a specialist adviser who provides emotional and practical support to anyone who has been raped, sexually assaulted, or harassed, whether that’s happened recently or in the past. The SAHA can support you whether this happened at University or not, and can also help you to access other available support services.  To find out more about the SAHA please click here. 

To get support from our SAHA you can either: 

For Medical Students: If you experience of witness this during a clinical placement this should be reported via Report and Support. Your report will be triaged and referred to the Governance Manager and Student Academic & Pastoral Support Office within the School. Guidance on what SMD will do with such reports and the additional support available can be found on the QMPlus module here.

Advice and Counselling: the Advice and Counselling Service at Queen Mary is available for advice and guidance on further support options and for ongoing support for students. They provide a range of specialist, professional and confidential services to support students with financial, welfare, legal as well as emotional and psychological issues. You can request to be referred to them by completing a report with your contact details or contacting the team directly. 

Your Student Support Officer: They are your first point of contact in your academic school/institute. They can also arrange support if your studies have been affected, or will be affected, by what has happened. You can also arrange to see your personal tutor or academic adviser in your academic school.

Residential Support: If you are living in Queen Mary accommodation you can talk to the Residential Support team who are there to support all aspects of your wellbeing in halls.

Security: Queen Mary's Security team provide a 24 hour service.

The Students' Union Academic Advice Service: the Students' Union provides a confidential, non-judgemental and free service available to all current Queen Mary Students.  It is independent from the university, so issues discussed with the Academic Advice Service will not appear on your Queen Mary file without your consent.  The Academic Advice Service provides specialist advice and support on academic issues such as concerns about your university experience, the student complaints procedure, appeals, disciplinary hearings, academic misconduct investigations and applications for extenuating circumstances.

Report and Support: you can report an incident using the Queen Mary’s Report and Support system. You can choose to do this anonymously or you can request support by filling in the form with your contact details.  Your report will be progressed by HR and, in the case of reporting with contact details, a HR Adviser or HR Partner will discuss with you the options for dealing with your report informally or formally, under the grievance policy.

Employee Assistance Programme: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year support

Trade Unions: Queen Mary recognises five campus trade unions: Unite, UCU, Unison, BDA, and BMA. Staff who are members can contact them for support and advice.

Queen Mary Occupational Health: Occupational Health works to promote health in the workplace and forms part of the overall health and safety management system, focusing on the management of work related health risks. This can include the prevention of work related ill health, facilitating rehabilitation after illness and injury, and promoting physical and mental wellbeing. Occupational Health can provide advice signpost staff to appropriate services. Just email: occhealth@qmul.ac.uk.

This page lists services based in the UK.  If you are working or studying outside of the UK at the moment and would like some guidance finding specialist support services near you, please contact: