This blog post, written by CDN’s Delivery and Engagement Partner and co-editor of the toolkit, Dr Gail Toms, introduces Creating Safer Colleges: A Practical Toolkit to Strengthen College Responses to GBV and Harassment. It explores how the toolkit supports Scotland’s colleges to strengthen prevention and response to gender-based violence (GBV) and harassment through practical guidance, sector insight, and real-world examples. Developed with colleges and specialist partners, it reflects a shared commitment to safer, more inclusive learning and working environments across the sector.
In Scotland’s Colleges there is a strong shared commitment to inclusion, opportunity and learner success, yet alongside this, we also recognise a difficult reality: gender-based violence and harassment remain urgent and systemic issues that affect safety, wellbeing, and participation of both students and staff. Creating Safer Colleges: a practical toolkit to strengthen college responses to GBV and harassment, has been developed to help support colleagues by offering practical guidance, sector insights, and real-world examples to help colleges strengthen how they recognise, prevent, and respond to GBV, in a consistent and meaningful way.
At its heart, this is a practical sector-led piece of work, that has been designed in consultation with expert stakeholders, so that Colleges can tailor the sector response to be survivor-centred, proportionate, and sustainable. Rather than telling colleges exactly what to do, it shares proven approaches, established frameworks, and practical ‘how to’ examples that colleges can adapt to their own context. Its focus is firmly on fostering safe, respectful, and inclusive learning and working environments for our college communities.
The document also comes at an important time and every effort has been made to ensure that this toolkit aligns with national policy and new legislative change. This includes Scotland’s Equally Safe strategy and the Tertiary Education and Training (Funding and Governance) (Scotland) Act, 2026, both of which strengthen expectations of tertiary institutions to demonstrate effective action on GBV. In this sense, the document is both timely and practical and aims to highlight the evidence of the meaningful ongoing work, rather than the impact of one off initiatives or campaigns.
A key strength to this publication is the partnership approach behind it. CDN and Colleges Scotland have worked closely with colleges, the CDN EDI network, EmilyTest, Rape Crisis Scotland, Women’s Aid Services, Amina, White Ribbon Scotland, as well as the Scottish Funding Council and Scottish Government, so that we can ensure that content is relevant, expert, and effective. This collaborative approach reflects the reality of tackling GBV, as it cannot sit with one team or role alone. Effective prevention and response require leadership, trained staff, engaged students, and strong links with local and national specialist services. This toolkit is shaped by expertise, lived experience, and practitioner insight, to ensure it remains grounded in what works in a real college setting.
Creating Safer Colleges emphasises the importance of a whole-college approach, whereby prevention and response are embedded into everyday practice and across governance, policy, curriculum, student support, and partnership working. Key themes include;
- Clear, accessible policies and reporting routes
- Trauma-informed and culturally sensitive responses to disclosures
- Staff training and resource to build consistency and confidence
- Strong student partnership and voice
- Regular monitoring, evaluation, and review.
- Anchoring practice by using ESHE and EmilyTest Charter frameworks
This document is backed by our 2025 survey findings underlined both progress and challenges for the college sector. Encouragingly, 94% of colleges report senior management investment in addressing GBV. However, the challenges are clear with 88% of colleges citing funding and resource pressures (such as time and staff capacity) as significant barriers to progress. The data also reinforces what many already know: GBV is underreported, impacts both students and staff, and has serious consequences for mental health, engagement, and attainment.
Put simply, there is strong commitment across the sector, but the survey underlined a clear need for sustained, coordinated support, and action, and that that support should be well-resourced and sector-wide.
We hope that this document signals a clear direction of travel. It supports colleges to move beyond the reactive towards a shared proactive approach grounded in prevention, partnership, and lived experience. For the sector, the message is clear: creating safer environments is not a one-off initiative but an ongoing commitment. Creating Safer Colleges offers a common language, clearer expectations, and practical tools, helping the sector to build safer environments where everyone can learn and work with dignity, respect, and confidence.
