Morgan Tritton, Hertfordshire Socialist Students

Hertfordshire Socialist Students is campaigning for action and funding from university management and the student union to end sexism and violence against women on campus.

In April, Student Council passed a motion unanimously, mandating Herts Students’ Union to pressure the university to improve incident-reporting systems, introduce prevention and education campaigns, provide consent and anti-harassment training for all students, and consult students and staff on these changes.

But since launching the campaign, Socialist Students has faced delays, silence, and contradictory statements from both the student union and university, especially over the rollout of mandatory consent and anti-harassment training.

The national Office for Students introduced new requirements in August. Despite repeated assurances from the Dean of Students at Herts that training had been delivered, evidence gathered by Socialist Students showed inconsistent implementation, poor-quality material, and many students who had not received any training.

After months of ignored emails, minimal communication to staff, and attempts by the university to evade responsibility, students are escalating pressure. Socialist Students has collected evidence of inaction, raised the issue in every available forum, and run mass email and social media campaigns, with other societies.

This pressure has now forced the university to commit to holding an open student forum in December. The Dean of Students and senior management will attend to answer for the failed rollout of training, and wider inaction.

Who stands up for us?

Once the highest democratic student body passes a motion, students should be able to trust that those elected and employed to represent their interests will lobby the university to make urgent changes to defend student safety. Instead, this struggle has exposed how compromised Herts Students’ Union, beholden to university management, and reliant on maintaining the institution’s public image, is often unwilling to fight for students’ interests, when those interests do not align with management priorities. Socialist Students has been working to re-politicise Herts Students’ Union, pushing it to become a fighting, democratic body, unafraid to challenge cuts, closures, and managerial overreach.

Socialist Students has also communicated our campaign’s concerns to staff and members of the University and College Union (UCU), who share frustrations over the university’s failure to protect students. We will continue building a united movement of students and workers to hold the uni accountable, especially since the Student Council’s democratic mandate has been ignored. Backed by staff, Student Council, and requirements set by the regulator, Socialist Students demands an overhaul of the uni’s approach to sexual harassment and misconduct.

Our campaign is part of a wider struggle for a socialist alternative to the capitalist system that fuels sexism and misogyny, and for free, fully funded education – starting with building a strong democratic student union that promotes a political voice for students.