Local Resources and Laws - United Kingdom
Call the police at 999 if you wish to press charges.
Consult a medical professional by visiting the 28@Northgate Health Centre.
15 Market Street
Oxford, OX1 3EF
Telephone: 01865 311 811.
If you wish to go to the surgery, a Junior Dean or member of the M-CMRS staff may be able to come with you.
You can also contact the resources below for both emotional and legal support:
Oxford Rape Crisis:
http://www.oxfordrapecrisis.net/
support@osarcc.org.uk
Call 01865 726 295 or Freephone 0800 783 6294.
24 Hour Answer phone: 01865 726 295.
Rape Crisis England & Wales:
http://www.rapecrisis.org.uk/
Freephone helpline: 0808 802 9999 (12 - 2.30pm, 7 - 9.30pm)
Nightline, 16 Wellington Square, Oxford. Tel: 01865 270270 – is open from 8.00 p.m. – 8.00 a.m. every night during university term and during the week immediately before and after each term. They are a sympathetic listening and information service, run by students for students, to share any problem no matter how large or small.
Samaritans, 60 Magdalen Road, Oxford. Tel: 01865 722122 – offer a 24 hour confidential listening service, especially for those who are despairing or suicidal. The office is also open from 8.00 a.m.–10.00 p.m.
OUSU Student Advice Service, Tel: 01865 288466 – Provide support for undergraduates and graduates and will treat your enquiry with the strictest confidence. They have 1 full time and 4 part time advice officers on hand to help you.
Thames Valley Police, Oxford. Tel: 0845 8 505 505 – for all enquiries/reports. (Tel: 999 Emergencies only.)
Victim Support Scheme, Tel: 0300 1234 148 Email: oxandbucks@victimsupport.org.uk – offer support to victims of any crime.
If an assault takes place outside Oxford, you can contact a Sexual Assault Referral Centre, where you can receive medical services and emotional support. You can be referred to the nearest SARC by calling the Rape Crisis England & Wales helpline: 0808 802 9999.
Definitions of Crimes
In Middlebury’s efforts to obtain and provide definitions of the following crimes or terms, e.g., Sexual Assault, Dating Violence, Domestic Violence, Stalking, and Consent in reference to sexual activity, which are prohibited by Middlebury’s Policy and which may also be prohibited by law in the United Kingdom, listed below please find some or all of the crimes or terms as locally defined by the United Kingdom to the extent known by Middlebury on information and belief at this time.
Definitions of Sexual Offences, Consent, Stalking, and Domestic Violence in the United Kingdom (Sexual Offences Act 2003)
Rape: A person (A) commits an offence if he intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus or mouth of another person (B) with his penis, B does not consent to the penetration, and A does not reasonably believe that B consents. s.1
Assault by penetration: A person (A) commits an offence if he intentionally penetrates the vagina or anus of another person (B) with a part of his body or anything else, the penetration is sexual, B does not consent to the penetration, and A does not reasonably believe that B consents. s.2
Sexual assault: A person (A) commits an offence if he intentionally touches another person (B), the touching is sexual, B does not consent to the touching, and A does not reasonably believe that B consents. s.3
Causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent: A person (A) commits an offence if he intentionally causes another person (B) to engage in an activity, the activity is sexual, B does not consent to engaging in the activity, and A does not reasonably believe that B consents. s.4
Rape of a child under 13: A person commits an offence if he intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus or mouth of another person with his penis, and the other person is under 13. s.5
Assault of a child under 13 by penetration: A person commits an offence if he intentionally penetrates the vagina or anus of another person with a part of his body or anything else, the penetration is sexual, and the other person is under 13. s.6
Consent: Section 74 SOA 2003 defines consent as “a person consents if he agrees by choice, and has the freedom and capacity to make that choice.”
Offences in relation to stalking: A person is guilty of an offence if the person pursues a course of conduct in breach of section 1(1), and the course of conduct amounts to stalking.
A person’s course of conduct amounts to stalking of another person if it amounts to harassment of that person, the acts or omissions involved are ones associated with stalking, and the person whose course of conduct it is knows or ought to know that the course of conduct amounts to harassment of the other person. s.111(1) Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (PFA) [to be inserted as section 2A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 (PHA)]
Stalking involving fear of violence or serious alarm or distress: A person (“A”) whose course of conduct amounts to stalking, and either:
(i) causes another (“B”) to fear, on at least two occasions, that violence will be used against B, or
(ii) causes B serious alarm or distress which has a substantial adverse effect on B’s usual day-to-day activities,
is guilty of an offence if A knows or ought to know that A’s course of conduct will cause B so to fear on each of those occasions or (as the case may be) will cause such alarm or distress.
Section 2A(3) outlines the acts or omissions associated with stalking e.g following a person, contacting, or attempting to contact, a person by any means, watching or spying on a person etc (see section 2A(3) PFA for more detail).
s.111(2) PFA 2012 [to be inserted as section 4A of the PHA1997]
Controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship: (1) A person (A) commits an offence if—
(a) A repeatedly or continuously engages in behaviour towards another person (B) that is controlling or coercive,
(b) at the time of the behaviour, A and B are personally connected,
(c) the behaviour has a serious effect on B, and
(d) A knows or ought to know that the behaviour will have a serious effect on B.
“Controlling behaviour” means an act (or acts) designed to make a person feel subordinate or dependant (or both) by isolating them from support, depriving them of the means needed for independence and escape and regulating their everyday behaviour.
“Coercive behaviour” means an act (or acts) of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse used to harm, punish or frighten the victim. (Practice Direction (PD) 12J, Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR)).
s.76 Part 5 (Protection of Children and Others from Domestic Abuse) Serious Crime Act 2015
Domestic Violence and Abuse: A person (D) is guilty of an offence if
(a) a child or vulnerable adult (V) dies or suffers serious physical harm as a result of the unlawful act of a person who
(i) was a member of the same household as V, and
(ii) had frequent contact with him
(b) D was such a person at the time of that act
(c) at that time there was a significant risk of serious physical harm being caused to V by the unlawful act of such a person, and
(d) either D was the person whose act caused the death or serious physical harm or
(i) D was, or ought to have been, aware of the risk mentioned in paragraph (c),
(ii)D failed to take such steps as he could reasonably have been expected to take to protect V from the risk, and
(iii) that act occurred in circumstance of the kind that D foresaw or ought to have foreseen.
s.5 Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004
and
s.1 Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims (Amendment) Act 2012
Dating Violence: There is no specific statute that prohibits “dating violence” in the UK. It is possible that this type of offence would be dealt with under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and Offences Against the Person Act 1861 if the violence became physical.