EmilyTest Gender-Based Violence Charter Award to St Andrews

That the House commends the University of St Andrews on becoming the first university in the UK to be granted the EmilyTest Gender-Based Violence Charter Award; understands that the University was presented with the award on 22 November by the charity’s founder and CEO Fiona Drouet MBE and Scottish Minister for Higher and Further Education Graeme Dey; recognises that achieving the award involved significant work by both students and staff and involved the University’s policies, practices and procedures on gender-based violence being assessed by a trained independent panel; believes that the award demonstrates the University’s commitment to achieving a campus that is responsible in tackling gender-based violence; notes that the charity EmilyTest was founded by Fiona Drouet after her daughter Emily, an 18-year-old undergraduate law student, took her own life after being subjected to a sustained campaign of abuse at the hands of a fellow student; further notes that the charity focuses on tackling gender-based violence in education and, alongside the Charter, has developed training programmes and a risk assessment, helping to ensure universities and colleges have the skills, training and resources needed to keep students safe; congratulates the University on taking steps to ensure that it can tackle gender-based violence effectively; and encourages other education institutions to work towards the award.