By Vita Molyneux of. Victoria University of Wellington. File photo. Victoria University of Wellington VUW has become the first university in Aotearoa to prohibit intimate relationships between staff and students. The new policy states "isolated, intimate, consensual encounters" are now no longer allowed. Provost Professor Wendy Larner said Victoria University was proud to be the first to introduce such a policy.
When Te Herenga Waka introduced its new Sexual Harassment Response Policy and Procedures in , the issue of inappropriate staff-student relationships regularly surfaced," Larner said. One of these relationships was the subject of an independent investigation in , where it was found a lecturer had committed a "low level" breach of the university's policy by not disclosing a relationship with a student.
But the investigation found there was not evidence to uphold a complaint that the lecturer assaulted the student. The independent investigation was launched by Victoria University after a student claimed the lecturer - whom she was in a relationship with - had assaulted her and left her with multiple bruises. Information obtained by the NZ Herald under the Official Information Act showed there were two formal complaints of sexual harassment or assault from students against VUW staff in , two more in and three in Professor Larner said the new policy reflected the university's core values and its commitment to being a values-based university.
While previously, VUW "strongly discouraged" intimate relationships with students for whom members had academic or wellbeing responsibilities these relationships were now prohibited. Any pre-existing relationships between staff and students at the time the policy took effect must be declared within the next month. A new report warns protections to stop tech companies spying on schoolchildren appear far too weak.
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