Frederick University - From Red Cards to Red Flags: Addressing Dating Violence in HEIs

Target Group
Postgraduate students
Professional and support staff
Researchers
Initiative Theme
Culture
Initiative institution
Frederick University
Application type
Athena Swan Initiative
Publication date

Institution

Frederick University

Author

Natassa Frederickou, President of the Council 

Overview 

Frederick University developed an evidence-informed approach to preventing dating violence by transforming students' lived experiences into research, awareness campaigns and targeted interventions. Over twelve years, the initiative evolved from "Red Cards" to "Red Flags", creating a continuous cycle of listening, evidence gathering, reflection and action that continues to shape institutional practice. 

About the organisation 

Frederick University is a private university in Cyprus with campuses in Nicosia and Limassol. It serves approximately 5,500 students and comprises five Schools offering around 80 undergraduate and postgraduate programmes across a broad range of disciplines through both face-to-face and online modes of study. The University is committed to equality, diversity, inclusion, and student wellbeing. In March 2026, Frederick University was awarded the Athena Swan Bronze Award, becoming one of the first higher education institutions in Cyprus to receive this recognition. The University's sustained, scenario-based approach to addressing gender-based violence was commended as good practice by the Athena Swan Cyprus panel. 

The University is committed to embedding evidence-informed approaches that promote equality, prevent gender-based violence and create a safe and inclusive environment for all members of its community.  

The initiative was delivered through the University's Centre for Equality and Inclusion (EnAF – Equality & Awareness @ Frederick), which leads institutional work on gender equality, inclusion and the prevention of gender-based violence.

Purpose of the initiative 

The initiative was launched in 2014 after the University's Counselling Centre observed an increasing number of students seeking support for unhealthy and, in some cases, abusive intimate relationships. At the same time, international research highlighted dating violence as a widespread but frequently under-recognised issue among young adults. While this evidence suggested that the problem was likely to exist within our own student population, we recognised that we knew very little about our students' actual experiences. 

Rather than beginning with a traditional awareness campaign, we chose to begin by listening. 

Our initial objective was to help students recognise abusive behaviours and encourage discussion around a topic often surrounded by stigma and silence. However, the overwhelming response to the first campaign fundamentally changed our approach. We realised that awareness alone was not enough. We needed robust evidence to understand the prevalence of dating violence, students' recognition of abusive behaviours, and the factors shaping their experiences. This marked the beginning of a long-term evidence-informed approach in which every intervention would be guided by research, every campaign would generate new questions, and every cycle would inform the next.

Description of the initiative

The initiative began in 2014 with a simple question: what are our students experiencing in their relationships? 

To answer this, the University launched the "Show the Red Card" campaign. Following discussions around realistic relationship scenarios in classrooms, students were invited to anonymously write on a red card a behaviour they believed deserved a "red card" - something they had personally experienced or witnessed in the lives of people around them. The campaign deliberately took place during Valentine's Day to broaden conversations about love by emphasising that healthy relationships are built on respect, equality and safety rather than control or abuse. 

The response exceeded expectations. More than 90% of the students invited to participate contributed anonymous testimonials, creating a unique collection of lived experiences. Rather than treating these as individual stories, the University analysed them systematically to identify recurring patterns of abuse. These patterns formed the basis of the next phase of the initiative. 

Recognising the need for quantitative evidence, the University developed a scenario-based questionnaire measuring three dimensions: the prevalence of different forms of dating violence, students' own experiences as victims or perpetrators, and their ability to recognise abusive behaviours. The findings informed a comprehensive awareness campaign, including bilingual educational posters, interactive installations, and targeted educational workshops delivered by the University's Counselling Centre, many in collaboration with specialist NGOs. 

The workshops were primarily targeted at students and were designed directly around the themes emerging from the research. Topics included recognising dating violence, healthy and unhealthy relationships, effective communication, conflict resolution, setting healthy boundaries, emotional abuse and jealousy. Rather than providing generic awareness sessions, the workshops were designed to build practical relationship skills, promote respectful relationships and empower students to recognise, prevent and respond to abusive behaviours. 

The initiative was coordinated by the University's Centre for Equality and Inclusion (EnAF), ensuring continuity across successive campaign cycles. Strategic oversight was provided jointly by the President of EnAF and the Director of the Studies and Student Welfare Service, working closely with the University's Counselling Centre, academic staff, Student Services and external specialist organisations. The research component was developed collaboratively with a faculty member, Dr Petroula Mavrikiou, specialising in statistics, who contributed to the design of the scenario-based questionnaires and led the quantitative analysis using SPSS. This interdisciplinary governance structure enabled the initiative to evolve over time while maintaining a robust, evidence-informed methodology. 

Each cycle concluded with structured reflection, generating new research questions and new interventions. Subsequent questionnaires expanded from eight to twelve scenarios following the emergence of digital abuse, sexting and additional forms of coercive control identified through new student testimonials. Research was further extended to pornography consumption to explore its relationship with attitudes towards dating violence. 

At the same time, the awareness campaign evolved from Red Cards, which encouraged students to identify unacceptable behaviours, to Red Flags, helping them recognise early warning signs before abuse escalates. Interactive installations, digital communication, experiential activities and repeated research cycles ensured that the initiative remained relevant as students' experiences and relationship dynamics continued to evolve. 

Rationale 

The University deliberately adopted an evidence-informed approach because dating violence is often hidden, normalised and misunderstood. Rather than designing interventions based solely on international literature, we wanted prevention activities to reflect our own students' lived experiences. Placing student voices at the centre of the initiative increased participation, strengthened trust and ensured that awareness materials were authentic and relevant. Most importantly, the initiative was designed as a continuous cycle of listening, research, intervention and reflection, allowing prevention strategies to evolve alongside changing relationship dynamics and emerging forms of abuse. 

Results 

The initiative has had a sustained impact on students, institutional practice and public discourse. Perhaps its greatest achievement, however, has been transforming dating violence prevention from a one-off awareness campaign into a continuous, evidence-informed institutional process. 

Impact on students 

Across successive cycles, more than 2,000 students participated directly in campaign activities, while the initiative reached virtually the entire on-campus student population through large-scale awareness installations, educational materials and digital displays. Participation remained consistently high, with more than 90% of students invited to contribute choosing to share anonymous testimonials describing problematic relationship behaviours. 

The first scenario-based survey demonstrated that dating violence was a significant issue within the student community. Approximately one in two students reported experiencing at least one form of dating violence, one in three admitted perpetrating abusive behaviours, and nearly two in five failed to recognise one or more abusive behaviours as serious forms of violence. 

Repeated surveys did not demonstrate a substantial reduction in prevalence rates. However, the cohorts were different because the original participants had graduated and new students had entered the University. Direct comparisons of prevalence should therefore be interpreted with caution. 

The clearest evidence of impact was improved recognition of abusive behaviours. Successive surveys showed improved recognition of behaviours such as jealousy, coercive control and other forms of emotional abuse. This suggests that the initiative strengthened awareness and understanding, even though the prevalence of abusive behaviours continues to be influenced by wider social and cultural factors beyond the University. 

Improving recognition was considered an important outcome in its own right. Before individuals can challenge abusive behaviours, seek help or change their own behaviour, they first need to recognise those behaviours as problematic. 

Each campaign was also accompanied by an increase in students seeking support from the University's Counselling Centre. Although multiple factors may influence help-seeking behaviour, this consistent pattern suggests that the campaigns reduced stigma, encouraged recognition and increased confidence in accessing support. 

Institutional impact 

The initiative has transformed institutional practice. What began as a student awareness campaign evolved into an evidence-informed methodology that now underpins the University's broader work on gender-based violence and harassment.  

The same principles - using realistic scenarios, collecting evidence, evaluating perceptions and adapting interventions - have subsequently been applied to staff through scenario-based surveys, mandatory training, scenario-based awareness campaigns, a comprehensive Code of Practice for the Prevention and Combating of Harassment and Sexual Harassment, and the development of the University's Reporting and Support platform.  

Perhaps the initiative's greatest institutional achievement has been embedding a continuous cycle of listening, research, intervention, evaluation and improvement within the University's equality and inclusion work. 

Impact beyond the University 

The initiative has extended well beyond the University, contributing to national conversations on dating violence and gender-based violence. 

Research findings have been presented at national conferences and have received extensive coverage through television, radio and newspaper interviews, helping raise public awareness and stimulate discussion on dating violence among young people. 

The University's work has also informed collaborations with specialist organisations working in the field of gender-based violence and healthy relationships. 

More recently, research exploring the relationship between pornography consumption and dating violence was presented at a national conference organised with the Cyprus Radio Television Authority, Cyprus' independent regulator for audiovisual media, with responsibilities comparable to those of Ofcom in the United Kingdom. Following the conference, the Authority invited the University to repeat the study, and the new findings are expected to contribute to the ongoing national discussion on age verification for online pornography. 

Key barriers and facilitators 

Perhaps the greatest challenge was not encouraging participation - it was challenging deeply embedded beliefs about relationships. 

From the outset, we recognised that many behaviours, including jealousy, coercive control, emotional abuse, digital surveillance and other forms of controlling behaviour, were frequently normalised by young people and therefore not recognised as abuse. Encouraging students to reflect on these experiences required the creation of a safe, anonymous and non-judgemental environment. The use of anonymous Red Cards, and later online submissions, enabled students to share experiences that they might never have disclosed in other contexts. This high level of participation became one of the initiative's greatest strengths. 

A second challenge was ensuring that the initiative remained relevant as relationship dynamics evolved. Each research cycle revealed new patterns of behaviour, particularly in relation to digital communication, sexting and coercive control. Rather than treating the campaign as a fixed intervention, we deliberately designed it as a continuous cycle of listening, research, reflection and adaptation. This allowed the questionnaires, awareness materials and educational interventions to evolve alongside students' changing realities. 

An equally important facilitator was closing the feedback loop. Students did not simply contribute their experiences; they saw how those experiences informed research, awareness campaigns, educational workshops and institutional action. By presenting the findings back to the University community and demonstrating how student voices shaped each new phase of the initiative, we strengthened trust, encouraged participation in subsequent cycles and reinforced the credibility of the process. 

A further challenge was ensuring broad participation in the research. While engagement was consistently high, male students were less likely than female students to complete the questionnaires. To address this, questionnaires were administered within classrooms, significantly improving participation across different student groups and ensuring a more representative evidence base. 

Strong institutional commitment was one of the initiative's greatest facilitators. Coordination by the University's Centre for Equality and Inclusion (EnAF), together with strategic oversight from the President of EnAF and the Director of the Studies and Student Welfare Service, ensured continuity across successive campaign cycles. Close collaboration between the Counselling Centre, academic and administrative staff, Student Services, specialist NGOs and equality structures enabled research findings to be translated rapidly into awareness campaigns, educational interventions and institutional policy. 

Institutional commitment enabled the initiative to become embedded within the University's wider equality, diversity, inclusion and student wellbeing agenda, rather than remaining a standalone campaign. 

The future?

The initiative will continue to evolve through repeated cycles of listening, research, intervention and evaluation. Rather than replicating previous campaigns, each new cycle will respond to emerging evidence and changing student realities. Current research explores the relationship between pornography consumption and dating violence and will inform the next phase of prevention work. 

Our long-term aspiration is that repeated cycles of awareness, education and evidence-informed intervention will contribute to reducing the prevalence of dating violence. However, we recognise that this is a complex social issue influenced by many factors beyond the University. Students spend only a few years with us, while attitudes towards relationships are shaped by families, peers, social media, pornography, wider cultural norms and society more broadly. 

For this reason, we believe the first and most realistic indicators of success are increased recognition of abusive behaviours, greater willingness to seek help, stronger confidence in support services and earlier intervention. We see these as essential precursors to longer-term reductions in prevalence. 

The University will continue embedding this evidence-informed methodology across its equality, diversity and inclusion agenda, ensuring that institutional practice remains responsive to the evolving experiences of its community. 

Advice for other members

Our greatest lesson was that sustainable prevention begins with listening rather than assumptions. Every institution has its own culture, challenges and student experiences. Understanding those experiences should be the starting point for any intervention. Collect evidence, share the findings with your community, allow the evidence to shape your next steps, and be willing to adapt as new challenges emerge. Over time, this creates something far more valuable than a successful campaign - it creates an institutional culture of continuous learning, prevention and improvement. 

Web links

Advance HE shares a range of practice and approaches to charters awards. Case studies/example applications illustrate one approach to race/gender equality work but there are a variety of successful approaches and we recommend charter members consider their local evidence-base and context when deciding how to advance equality in their setting.