The RCM is committed to protecting the wellbeing and safety of our students, staff and visitors. We have zero-tolerance for incidents of sexual misconduct, harassment, sexual or domestic violence, discrimination, hate incidents, bullying or microaggressions – these are never okay.
We have robust policies and procedures in place, a range of sources of support, training on consent and behaviours regarded as sexual misconduct and harassment, and an incident reporting process. Any report of this nature will be taken extremely seriously by the College and dealt with promptly and sensitively. Incidents at the College are rare, but if you witness or experience sexual misconduct, harassment, bullying, discrimination, microaggressions or any form of unacceptable or concerning behaviour, your voice will be heard and taken seriously.
This webpage is designed to provide a single and comprehensive source of information on matters relating to sexual misconduct and harassment.
Any incidents can also be reported to the Academic Registrar, or Student Services Manager who may log the incident on your behalf.
Reported incidents that constitute breach of the Student Code of Conduct will result in disciplinary action. The RCM will investigate reported incidents either in-house or via external professional investigation consultants in accordance with the Student Code of Conduct & Disciplinary Procedure. This procedure also addresses how any allegations that might constitute a criminal offence would be handled.
Support
In addition to Report + Support resources, support is also available from the Student Services team including a range of resources on the learn.rcm page.
The RCM Counselling service offers short-term confidential counselling to all students. Whilst the RCM Counselling Service cannot provide specialist sexual violence counselling, this can be accessed through the Survivors Gateway – the hub for sexual violence support services in London.
We are partnered with TogetherAll, which runs a 24/7 online service offering advice, resources and peer support for those dealing with depression, anxiety and other mental health issues. This service is free to all RCM students.
Training and awareness
The Consent Matters: Boundaries, Respect and Positive Interaction training includes three modules: ‘Thinking about consent’, ‘Communication skills and relationships’ and ‘Looking out for others’. All students must complete this training on commencement of studies at the RCM. In addition, students are required to attend the ‘Respect at the RCM: Our Ethos and Values’ session in Induction Week.
To address any issue or conflict of interest or potential imbalance of power, the RCM has a Personal Relationships Policy which prohibits any intimate personal relationship between members of staff and students.
The following documents, policies and procedures are also in place to enable action on sexual misconduct and harassment:
TERMS & CONDITIONS OF REGISTRATION
Regulations
4. You agree to abide by the RCM Student Code & Procedures and the regulations of your programme of study, which are available on our course pages.
5. The RCM is obliged to ensure students undertake mandatory training to ensure that students understand what behaviours might constitute sexual misconduct and/or harassment. You agree to complete all mandatory training in relation to consent, sexual misconduct and/or harassment, and awareness of information the RCM makes available in relation to this.
6. The RCM has a single and comprehensive source of information on matters relating to sexual misconduct and harassment. You undertake to familiarise yourself with the content of this information.
