Discrimination and harassment in student club

Overview

Discrimination, harassment and dangerous initiation (“hazing”) practices in a student club engage several overlapping systems at once. Depending on exactly what happened, you may have rights and routes under your university and students’ union rules, under general law (including the Equality Act 2010, criminal law and civil claims), and through external bodies. The most effective approach usually combines internal reporting with careful evidence gathering, and only escalates to formal legal action where necessary.

Because the right route depends heavily on the facts, it helps to identify at the outset which category the conduct falls into, since they overlap but are not the same thing.

Understanding the categories

Discrimination in this context generally means being treated worse, excluded, or subjected to detriment because of a protected characteristic. Under the Equality Act 2010 the protected characteristics are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. Universities and (where relevant) students’ unions are service providers and must not discriminate in how clubs and activities are run.

Harassment has two meanings that matter here. Under the Equality Act, harassment is unwanted conduct related to a protected characteristic that violates dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. Separately, under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, a course of conduct amounting to harassment can be both a criminal offence and give rise to a civil claim, and this does not require a protected characteristic. Sexual harassment is a distinct and serious form dealt with by most universities under specific procedures.

Dangerous initiations or hazing typically involve pressure to drink excessively, humiliation, degradation, or physical risk as a condition of joining or belonging to a club. As one university protocol puts it, hazing involves conduct expected of someone joining a group that humiliates, degrades, abuses or endangers them regardless of their apparent willingness to participate, takes improper advantage of a power imbalance, or coerces students to their physical or mental detriment. Crucially, the fact that a student appeared to “consent” does not make it acceptable, because consent obtained through group pressure is treated as unreliable.

The legal position

Several distinct areas of law can apply at the same time.

The Equality Act 2010 prohibits discrimination and harassment related to protected characteristics by universities and, in their public-facing functions, students’ unions. If a club excluded you, treated you badly, or subjected you to a hostile environment because of a protected characteristic, that may be unlawful discrimination or harassment for which the institution can bear responsibility.

Criminal law can be engaged by the more serious initiation and harassment conduct. Depending on the facts, this can include assault or battery, offences against the person if injury results, sexual offences, offences under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, and potentially serious consequences where forced drinking causes injury or death. Recent cases show universities treating dangerous initiations as serious misconduct: a Cardiff University cricket club was suspended for the year and players banned following an investigation into a pub initiation. Where a student is coerced into dangerous drinking or physical acts, the criminal threshold may be crossed even if organisers claim it was “just tradition”.

Civil law may allow a claim in negligence if a club or its organisers owed a duty of care, breached it, and caused foreseeable injury, or a claim under the Protection from Harassment Act for a course of harassing conduct.

Institutional duties also matter. Universities owe duties of care to students and have their own codes of conduct and disciplinary procedures. Many now operate a specific joint protocol between the university and the students’ union for managing initiation and hazing concerns, and most students’ unions have a code of conduct for affiliated clubs and societies, a disciplinary process, and a zero-tolerance or zero-alcohol approach to initiations. It is worth noting that a university’s own rules and policies are authoritative for how that institution will handle a complaint, even though they are not an authority on the general law.

Establishing the facts before labelling the conduct

It is worth being careful and precise about what actually happened, because the label affects the route and remedy. For example, being dropped from a team or not selected is not automatically discrimination unless a protected characteristic or victimisation is involved; there may be an ordinary sporting or organisational explanation. A one-off unpleasant comment may be offensive without meeting the legal definition of harassment, whereas a repeated course of conduct is far more likely to qualify. Pressure to drink at a social may sit anywhere on a spectrum from poor culture to serious criminal conduct depending on the degree of coercion, the risk created, and any resulting harm.

Setting out the facts clearly, in order, with dates, who was present, what was said or done, and what pressure was applied, will make any complaint far stronger and will help the right people apply the right test.

Gathering evidence

Before making a formal report, and as soon as possible while memories are fresh, it helps to preserve evidence.

1. Write a dated, factual account of each incident, in chronological order.

2. Save messages, group chats, WhatsApp or social media posts, event invitations, emails and any club “rules” or instructions about initiations. Screenshot them with dates visible, as these are often deleted quickly.

3. Note the names of witnesses and anyone else affected, since group complaints carry particular weight.

4. Keep any medical records, photographs of injuries, or records of hospital or GP attendance if there was physical harm.

5. If money was demanded or spent, keep receipts or bank records.

Internal routes: university and students’ union

For most students, the fastest and most practical starting point is the internal system, which can impose suspensions, bans and disciplinary sanctions on clubs and individuals without the cost and delay of court.

You can usually report through the students’ union, which affiliates and regulates clubs and societies and can invoke its student groups disciplinary procedures against a club or its committee for breaching the code of conduct. Many unions have a dedicated email or an online “Report and Support” tool that allows named or anonymous reporting.

You can also, or alternatively, report to the university itself under its student conduct, harassment and sexual misconduct, or safeguarding procedures. Where the university and union operate a joint initiation and hazing protocol, a report to either can trigger a coordinated investigation, and outcomes can include suspension of the club, banning of individuals, and referral into the disciplinary process.

For sports clubs, there may be an additional route to the national sports governing body. British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) can receive reports about affiliated university sport, and some unions expressly signpost reporting to BUCS as well as internally.

If you have already complained and are unhappy with how the university handled it, you can use the university’s formal complaints procedure and, once you have exhausted that and received a Completion of Procedures letter, escalate to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA), which reviews unresolved student complaints in England and Wales. The OIA cannot punish individuals but can make findings and recommend remedies where a university has not handled a matter properly.

Reporting to the police

If the initiation or harassment involved assault, sexual misconduct, coerced dangerous drinking, threats, or a course of harassing conduct, this can be reported to the police independently of any university process, and the two can run in parallel. If someone is in immediate danger call 999; otherwise 101 or online reporting is appropriate for non-emergencies. A university may pause or adjust its own investigation while a criminal matter is live, but it retains the ability to take precautionary steps such as suspending a club or imposing no-contact conditions.

External legal routes and remedies

Beyond internal and criminal processes, there are civil options. A claim under the Equality Act for discrimination or harassment by the university or union as a service provider is normally brought in the County Court, and there is generally a six-month time limit for such claims, so acting promptly matters. A personal injury claim in negligence may be possible where dangerous conduct caused injury, and a claim under the Protection from Harassment Act may be available for a sustained course of harassment. These routes can produce compensation and injunctions, but they carry cost, delay, evidential demands and litigation risk, so they are usually best considered after the internal and, where relevant, criminal routes, and after taking tailored advice.

You can also raise concerns with the Equality and Human Rights Commission where there is a systemic or serious equality failing, though the EHRC does not usually pursue individual grievances.

Suggested order of action

1. Make yourself safe first and seek medical help if there has been any physical harm.

2. Preserve and organise the evidence before anything is deleted.

3. Consider whether the police should be involved for any conduct that may be criminal, and report if so.

4. Report internally to the students’ union and, or the university under the relevant code of conduct, harassment, sexual misconduct or initiation and hazing procedure, and to BUCS if it concerns university sport.

5. Access support services such as the students’ union advice service, the university wellbeing or safeguarding team, and independent bodies like Citizens Advice, so you have support during the process.

6. If the internal outcome is unsatisfactory, use the formal complaints procedure and then the OIA.

7. Consider civil legal action or a claim under the Equality Act as a later step, keeping the relevant time limits in mind.

Key points that affect the outcome

The strength and route of any complaint will turn on several facts that are worth clarifying: exactly what was said or done and how often; whether a protected characteristic was involved; whether there was physical risk or injury; whether pressure or coercion was applied and how; who else was affected; and what evidence exists. Group complaints and documented messages are particularly persuasive. The apparent willingness of participants does not legitimise dangerous or degrading initiation conduct, and organisers cannot rely on “tradition” or “banter” as a defence to serious harm.

If you tell me which category best fits what happened, whether it involved a protected characteristic, whether anyone was injured, and whether it is a students’ union club or a private club, I can set out the most appropriate route and the likely remedies in more detail.