Tackling normalised sexual harassment and abuse in education institutions: a webinar via Zoom - 21 June 5pm

On 10th June 2021, Ofsted published its review on safeguarding policies in state and independent schools and colleges in relation to sexual abuse. The review has further emphasised how prevalent sexual abuse is in our education institutions and that steps must be taken to tackle this issue.

Join specialist education & employment law practitioners Charlotte Hadfield, Sarah Bowen and Alice de Coverley from 3PB’s Education and Employment & Discrimination teams at 5pm on 21st June 2021 for an update and discussion in relation to this important area.

Topics for discussion will include:

• Ofsted’s review, recommendations and findings.
• The Everyone’s Invited website.
• Current guidance on sexual abuse, PSHE, and safeguarding from the Department for Education.
• What should schools and colleges be doing to prevent sexual abuse, deal with it if it occurs, and improve their systems.
• How to manage the needs of victims, survivors, complainants and alleged perpetrators.
• Consideration of SEND and other protected characteristics.
• The relevance and importance of employer and employee duties in dealing with allegations of sexual abuse.
• What might happen next in terms of future guidance and policy.
• The current stage of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.
• Judicial review actions, including CEASE UK’s threatened judicial review against the ICO relating to protecting children from pornography.

Time will be set aside for questions and answers during the session but feel free to submit any questions in advance when registering on Zoom.

Speakers

Charlotte Hadfield

Charlotte heads 3PB's education team. She is passionate about education and enjoys a wide and varied practice covering the full spectrum of education law and related regulatory law.  She is regularly instructed on behalf of parents, young people, students, schools, academies, HE providers, local authorities, universities and Early Years and Child Care providers/practitioners.

"She really fights her client's corner and delivers very comprehensive legal arguments." "She has a very broad knowledge base - there isn't an area of education law that she isn't an expert on." - Chambers and Partners 2021

Sarah Bowen

Sarah has a specialist discrimination practice and accepts instructions in all areas e.g. education, employment, service provision. As a result, Sarah has significant experience of claims brought under the Equality Act 2010 for disability, sex, age, sexual orientation and gender reassignment discrimination, harassment and victimisation.

"She regularly acts for local authorities, the NHS and education sector clients." "Bright and enthusiastic but also friendly and down to earth." - Chambers and Partners 2021

Alice de Coverley

Alice is passionate about Education Law and children’s rights. She is on the Legal Reference Panel for the Centre for Women’s Justice, providing pro bono legal advice to women and girls in need of legal assistance, predominantly in matters relating to sexual violence and harassment. Alice is currently acting for Ofsted as Junior Counsel on the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA). She is also the co-author of A Practical Guide to School Exclusions (Law Group Publishing: 2020).

"Very knowledgeable and passionate. She really helps her clients to understand what the issues are and identifies the legal risks and next steps." "She is very approachable, very supportive to parents and very calm and collected in a stressful environment." - Chambers and Partners 2021