Project UPLIFT

Overview

Project UPLIFT (Understanding Processes, Legal Information, Facts and Testimonies) is a pilot collaboration between PBG and the NUS Care Unit (NCU) to provide legal informational support to student survivors of alleged sexual misconduct.

Often, a survivor’s journey is fraught with emotional and psychological challenges. These may be compounded by questions and uncertainties about the law, investigations, survivor’s rights as well as proceedings within and outside NUS. There may also be situations where the survivor is unable to or finds great difficulty in articulating their thoughts and views. Through Project UPLIFT, we hope to increase access to justice for survivors by providing them with the legal information that they may need on a case-by-case basis and, where required, by helping them to articulate their thoughts and views.

Activities

Student volunteers will work closely with NCU’s Care Officers to support survivors of alleged sexual misconduct. Under the supervision of Care Officers, students will meet with the survivor directly when required (either physically or virtually) to provide them with the necessary legal information about their legal rights, and to help them articulate their views when reviewing the Statement-of-Facts (SOF). The SOF is a document prepared by the NUS Office of Campus Security (OCS) upon completion of their investigations, and is used by the NUS Board of Discipline (BOD) to decide what disciplinary action, if any, to subsequently mete out to the alleged offender.

Students can expect to undergo two types of special training: (1) legal; and (2) victim care support.

  1. Under the guidance of a legal supervisor, students will be equipped with interview and note-taking skills to better assist survivors. They will also learn about the different sexual crimes under the Penal Code, as well as common crimes related to sexual offences (i.e. the Protection from Harassment Act, Computer Misuse Act, etc.). In addition to learning the relevant laws, students will also be acquainted with police processes, prosecutorial discretion, as well as internal proceedings within NUS.
  2. Students will also have the opportunity to learn various trauma informed engagement strategies to provide proper emotional support to survivors.