Everyone deserves to feel safe, respected, and accepted, wherever and whoever they are.
But for too many students, harassment, violence or hate can still be part of daily life, whether it’s a joke that goes too far, comments online or something more serious.
Never OK is about changing that. It’s about standing up for each other, knowing when something crosses the line, and speaking out when it does. This year, it goes further — shining a light on hate incidents as well as sexual harassment and violence, because prejudice and abuse in any form have no place in our community.
🧠 Educate yourself about harassment and hate
Harassment or hate crime is any unwanted behaviour or action that causes someone to feel upset, scared, offended, or humiliated. It may be verbal, physical, written, or online, and can target someone because of who they are or who they’re perceived to be.
Examples include:
- Catcalling, unwanted comments, or sexual jokes
- Staring, following, or unwanted touching
- Sharing offensive material or slurs online
- Threats or intimidation related to someone’s race, faith, gender, disability, or sexuality
- Vandalism or graffiti that targets a protected characteristic
Our universities take a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of harassment, violence, and hate. Everyone deserves to feel safe and respected.
🗣️ Be an active bystander
Being an active bystander means recognising when something’s not right and choosing to step in, support someone, or report the incident. Even small actions can make a difference and help prevent harm before it happens.
Five ways to act safely:
- Direct – If it’s safe, tell the person their behaviour isn’t OK.
- Distract – Interrupt or diffuse the situation (ask a question, start a new conversation).
- Delegate – Get help from friends, staff or security.
- Delay – If you can’t intervene in the moment, check in with the person afterwards.
- Document – Record what’s happened – time, date, location
🚨 Report incidents and get support
We know that many incidents of harassment, violence, and hate go unreported — often because people are unsure what counts or that they won’t be taken seriously, worry about retaliation, or have concerns about sensitivity in handling cases.
At Manchester, we will listen, we will support and we will act.
Ways to report and access support:
- Report + Support website – Report incidents to the University, anonymously or with contact details. You can also find details of specialist support services.
- Police – Call 999 in an emergency or if you’re in danger. For non-emergencies, call 101 or report online.
- Student Support – Speak to dedicated caseworker via Report + Support or reach out to the Advice Service at the Students’ Union for confidential guidance.
- Sexual Violence Support Drop-in – The drop-in offers an opportunity for you to speak to someone from Trafford Rape Crisis or the We Are Survivors who understands sexual violence and has a knowledge of the help available to you.
By reporting incidents, you help us understand what’s happening in our community — and take action to prevent it from happening again.
There’s no excuse for harassment, violence or hate. It’s Never OK.