What is the Sexual Violence Liaison Officer (SVLO) Service?
The SVLO Service is a non-emergency service that supports students who have experienced any form of sexual violence. It doesn’t matter if the incident/s happened before you started university, didn’t involve another student, or took place off university premises – an SVLO will be available to support you through your next steps.
There are multiple support options available to victims and survivors of sexual violence, however, it can be overwhelming deciding which services are right for you. With the support of an SVLO, you will be guided through this information to help you decide. They can explain the different reporting options available, should you wish them to, and highlight the different types of support that services offer.
SVLOs will be led by you and, if you feel you need support with referrals into another service, your SVLO can help.
Who can use the service?
We want all students at the University of Chester who have experienced sexual violence and would like support to be able to access the service.
Marginalised groups and people with intersectional experiences may face additional barriers to accessing support. The SVLO service recognise this and believes it is important to make it explicitly clear that we can support:
Students:
- who identify as LGBTQIA+
- with neurodivergences
- with disabilities
- identifying as non-binary or gender fluid
- that are male, female or intersex
- from all ethnic backgrounds
- from all religious backgrounds, including no religion
- of all ages.
The only students who can’t access the service are those studying abroad or outside of the UK. This is due to logistics, and if a student did contact the service for support whilst abroad, we would make sure they were redirected appropriately.
Who are the SVLOs?
Our SVLO team have all undergone specialist training by leading sexual violence consultancy experts LimeCulture – even the operational team behind the service! So you can be confident that from start to finish, whoever you are in contact with has the skills to support you.
SVLOs are existing staff at the University, with expertise in student wellbeing, international student experiences and multiple academic experts. SVLOs dedicate their time to the service as part of their existing role, not in addition to it. Therefore, they have the capacity to fully commit to their role of supporting victims and survivors.
This service model means we now have a team of 18 SVLOs across the University that bring with them a wealth of diverse experience in addition to their SVLO accreditation.
You can view our SVLO staff profiles here.
How to access the SVLO Service:
- Email: report@cester.ac.uk
- Complete the form: Report a Concern
- studentservices@chester.ac.uk or 01244511550.
The SVLO Service is not an emergency service. If you or someone else are in immediate danger or if emergency assistance is required, call the emergency services (police and/or ambulance) on 999. If you need support out of hours and are at one of our sites, you can contact Security through the phone number on the back of your student card.