Sexual harm prevention can’t start at 18

The recent Cornell case has sparked important conversations about sexual violence, accountability, and the role communities play in preventing harm. Kirsty Cochrane, Brook’s Digital Marketing Coordinator, explores the role of bystander intervention in preventing sexual violence, what rape culture means in practice, and why prevention education needs to start long before university.

A 2025 report found that around one in seven final-year graduates have experienced sexual assault since starting their studies in the UK.

While responsibility always lies with those who commit harm, the Cornell case raises a difficult question. 50 others in the group chat allegedly knew what was going on. Why didn’t someone step in?

Brook’s Emma Owens recently did an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live discussing the role of universities to prevent harm and provide training on consent and bystander intervention to students.

Young people are coming into university and perhaps exploring relationships for the first time… potentially without education or support or knowledge.

– Emma Owens, Brook, BBC5

Much of the conversation around preventing sexual violence focuses understandably on consent. Consent education is crucial for helping students to recognise when someone is and isn’t agreeing to sexual activity, but unfortunately, in many cases of sexual violence, perpetrators are well aware that the victim isn’t consenting. In these cases, bystander intervention training becomes essential. Not only in helping people safely intervene when they witness concerning behaviour, but also in challenging the attitudes and social norms (aka ‘rape culture’) that emboldens perpetrators to commit sexual violence in the first place.

Many people assume intervention means physically stepping in or directly confronting someone. In reality, being an active bystander means doing anything you can while still keeping yourself safe. This could be asking someone with more power to help, distracting from a situation, reporting concerns, checking in with a victim, or showing disapproval towards harmful behaviour. 

The key is that you find a safe way to do something rather than assuming somebody else will do something.

– Emma Owens on BBC5

It is encouraging that universities are now required to take meaningful action to prevent harassment and sexual misconduct under Condition E6. However, rape culture doesn’t begin at university – so sexual violence prevention education shouldn’t wait until university either.

The expectation we are placing on university students to be active bystanders often doesn’t match the education they have received. We expect these young people to recognise coercion, challenge harmful behaviour, support their peers, and intervene safely when something isn’t right. Yet, there is still not mandatory structured education on these topics between ages 16-18 – the two years usually right before university.

Of course, education alone won’t end sexual violence. Young people model what they see in the world around them, and we need to model the behaviours we want to see. Rape culture is still deeply ingrained in our society through victim blaming, slut shaming, normalising harassment, gender stereotypes, and excusing perpetrators. These small actions contribute to a culture that empowers sexual violence to happen and discourages survivors from getting support.

It is all of our responsibility to dismantle this culture through being active bystanders ourselves.

At Brook, we believe that bystander intervention should be embedded throughout an age-appropriate relationships and sex education curriculum. Just as we teach young people how to keep themselves safe, we should also be teaching them how to safely support others and contribute to safer communities.

The public reaction to the bystanders in the Cornell case suggests that many people already understand this instinctively. The frustration we feel towards those who did nothing reflects a growing expectation that we all have a role to play in preventing harm and creating safer cultures.

The question is whether the next generation are being equipped with the knowledge, confidence, and practical skills to meet that expectation.