LSE pledges to stop using NDAs in sexual assault cases

them in student complaint cases.

Student activism has secured a long-awaited win for victims of sexual violence. Last week, LSE became the 77th university in the United Kingdom to sign the government-backed “Can’t Buy My Silence” pledge, that renounces the use of Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) against victims of sexual assault and bullying.

NDAs are legal documents that restrict signatories from sharing classi ed information. While they were created for the purposes of protecting information and ideas from third parties within business and trade, powerful institutions have used NDAs to protect their reputation from damage in the case of sexual assault and bullying cases. e use of these agreements in universities drew national attention in 2020, when a BBC News report uncovered that nearly one third of universities had employed e Community & Welfare Ofcer commented on LSE’s signature: “I am beyond happy that LSE has nally signed the #CantBuyMySilence pledge, this is a real relief.” She added, “It’s

LSE’s move comes a er sustained pressure from student activists on campus. In March 2022, e Beaver reported that an LSE student, ‘Charlotte’, twice attempted suicide a er the university repeatedly failed to support her as a victim of sexual violence.

Charlotte told e Beaver that a member of LSE sta warned her that the university may subject her to legal action if she proceeded with her complaint regarding the gross mishandling of her case. She believes this was a warning that she could be presented with an NDA.

Charlotte’s story sparked an on-campus protest, led by Hands O LSE, the student campaign aiming to improve sexual assault policy. Outside the Centre Building, students held banners that called for action from the university’s higher-ups: ‘Time to Change LSE’, ‘Shame on You LSE’.

Also in March, Hands O presented a motion to the Student Union’s Union General Meeting (UGM). e motion requested the implementation of four commitments to improve LSE’s sexual violence provisions. e nal commitment requested that the LSESU lobby the university to sign the pledge. e motion was later passed into policy with double the number of student votes required.

In a nal show of student pressure, the former lead campaigner of Hands O and vocal critic of NDAs, Anaëlle oreau, was elected as Community & Welfare O cer in the 2022/3 LSESU elections. oreau campaigned on the policy to eliminate NDAs and used her acceptance speech to highlight the issue as her most important priority pledge.

Dr. Breslow has since put out a statement on his website, “I unequivocally condemn child sexual abuse. My work is about protecting marginalised children and young people, not exposing them to harm.

“It was my understanding in 2011 that B4U-ACT was an organisation that promotes treatments to prevent o ending by paedophiles. I believed at the time that the purpose of the conference was to enable better treatments and interventions that prevent harm to children. I would not have attended the symposium otherwise. I have not been afliated with B4U-ACT since.

“I decided to resign as a Trustee of Mermaids as I did not want to distract from the good work the charity is doing to help transgender and gender diverse children.” crucial here to emphasise that this is not LSE’s idea but once again a successful campaign initiated by students…[who] should take credit for this win.” oreau’s campaign to restructure LSE’s services is far from over, however. She intends to continue lobbying for the remaining measures from Hands O ’s motion. ese include the creation of an anti-sexual violence IT platform, implementation of a permanent Anti-Sexual Violence Team, and the publication of annual reviews on LSE’s sexual violence support system.

*Names in this article were changed to preserve anonymity.

Charlotte agreed, telling e Beaver that: ‘‘It’s a big step in the right direction, and I hope that LSE could use this momentum to usher further changes outlined in the Hands-O motion and beyond.’’

LSE responded in light of this news: “We are committed to a working and learning environment where people can achieve their full potential free of all types of harassment and violence. We take any reports of bullying, harassment, sexual misconduct, or violence extremely seriously and any member of the LSE community who has experienced or witnessed incidents of this kind is strongly encouraged to get in touch with a trained Safe Contact for information and support or use our dedicated online portal Report it Stop it. We have a dedicated anti-harassment support advisor with expertise in this area who can provide a consistent point of contact for victims/survivors from disclosure through to any criminal or university processes.

“Anyone a ected by sexual violence can also access free, condential, independent support and counselling.”