Harassment and violence support

The Harassment and Violence Support Service (HVSS) provides confidential, practical and emotional support to students who have been: 

  • subjected to sexual harassment or violence, and/or domestic abuse, or
  • impacted by religious or racial discrimination or violence  

We can support you whether these experiences happened at university or elsewhere, recently or in the past. You do not need to report them to the police or the University to access support. 

The HVSS is not a crisis service. If you have experienced a recent incident and need immediate support, visit our crisis support and information page.

We understand that everyone experiences things differently, and it’s okay if the words on this page don’t match how you would describe your own experiences. You can still access the service and discuss your situation with one of the team.

The team includes Sexual Harassment and Violence Advisers (SHVA) and a Racial and Religious Discrimination Adviser (RRDA). 

Our services are free to access and available most of the year, with short breaks over Christmas, Easter and public bank holidays. 

If this is your first time visiting the page, we encourage you to read through the sections below to learn more.

If you’re ready to book an appointment, complete our student support request form.

To learn about the University prevents and responds to sexual misconduct, please visit our Harassment and Sexual Misconduct webpage.

Our advisers

All HVSS advisers can offer both emotional and practical support. 

Emotionally, they provide a safe space to talk about your experiences, help you explore the impacts of the incident, and offer guidance on managing these effects. 

Practically, they can:

  • give impartial information about your reporting options—whether through your college, the University, or the police
  • support you in managing any difficulties arising from the incident
  • guide you through any reporting process you choose
  • refer you to other appropriate services within the University or externally

Sexual Harassment and Violence Advisers (SHVA) 

SHVAs provide trauma-informed support for experiences of sexual violence or domestic abuse, even if you do not consider it sexual abuse.

They can help you understand how trauma may affect you, develop positive coping strategies and rebuild self-esteem. SHVAs can also support you in accessing other specialist services within the community if appropriate.

Racial and Religious Discrimination Adviser (RRDA)

The RRDA provides specialist support for experiences of racial or religious discrimination or violence. 

The HVSS is available to students in the UK or abroad, whether your course requires College membership or not. 

Access to the service continues if you're: 

  • waiting for your final results to be officially confirmed by Student Registry, the Postgraduate Committee or Degree Committee
  • temporarily suspended and waiting for the outcome of a disciplinary case 

We cannot work with students who: 

  • are no longer registered as a student / whose registration has lapsed and not been extended
  • are between two separate courses that require separate applications
  • are formally suspended following a disciplinary outcome
  • are on intermission    

These measures are in place to make sure we can safely assess and manage risk, deliver the appropriate support and work within professional and legal boundaries. 

If these exclusions apply to you, we can help signpost you to other sources of support.  

If you’re unsure whether you meet these criteria,  please get in touch via hvss@studentsupport.cam.ac.uk 

To request an initial appointment, complete our student support request form. You only need to complete this form once per academic year.  

You do not need to give long answers. You can also put "I would prefer to talk about this in person" or “Prefer not to say”, if it is difficult to write about.  

After you submit the form, we’ll be in touch to offer you the next available appointment slot. 

We aim to offer you an appointment within 10 working days. In the last academic year, the average waiting time for an appointment was 3 working days. 

The support we provide is confidential. This means your information will not be shared outside the service without your consent. 

Exceptions only apply if: 

  • there are legal or statutory obligations to disclose, or
  • there is a risk of serious harm to you or others. 

For more details, please see our confidential and privacy page.