By Ella Simons
The first motion of the evening came from ‘Time to Act’, third year Becca Rumsey took to the stage. They stated
that “the lack of mandatory consent and bystander training across the university and Students’ Union
fails to create a safe and secure community for all students” and despite an apology statement from the
Union, more needs to be done.
They also shared that “the Students’ Union has failed to collect and publish data on the prevalence of sexual misconduct at Cardiff University which was proposed in Time to Act: Tackling Sexual Misconduct At Cardiff University a 2023 AGM motion. This is despite the research suggesting that “62% of students will experience sexual violence at UK universities with approximately
half happening in the first 6-8 weeks of term, as shared in the motion agenda (which is available to all
students on the Cardiff Students’ Union website).
In response the Union has shared via the agenda the steps and procedures they are taking to ensure safety of students and education around sexual violence are a priority such as ‘Bystander Training’, the ‘Let’s Talk Consent Campaign’, transparency in data
sharing as well as others. However, this is not enough. Time to Act said on stage that everyone “deserves
to feel safe in an institution that they love” but “the systems are broken” and they have had to take things
into their own hands. They argued that emails, statements and infographics won’t be enough from the
union, with student safety buried under policy documents. However, Time to Act said change will be seen
in everyday action – it is time to act now, Cardiff.
The motion passed unanimously.
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