On the 16th of January 2024, UniSAFE hosted a webinar addressing strategies to combat gender-based violence without formal complaints. The session, building upon the work of Dr Anna Bull, an expert on sexual harassment in higher education, highlighted the importance of adopting a proactive approach to handling informal complaints thus ensuring a safe environment for all. 

Dr. Bull began the conversation by discussing the changing approach of universities: “A noticeable shift is occurring, where higher education institutions or employers are progressively taking on more of the risk and responsibility for reporting as major institutions have faced collapse due to a failure to proactively address reports of sexual harassment or violence.” 

When handling reports of gender-based violence, higher institutions face specific challenges, such as confidentiality and anonymity issues. In the absence of formal reporting, higher education institutions receive information about gender-based violence in informal ways, which remains challenging to address.

Quoting Gemma White’s ‘Report for Publication and College Response’ (Trinity Hall Cambridge, 2022), the importance of addressing complaints, even these are not formally made: “A failure to take any action [in the absence of a formal complaint] contributes to an institutional environment in which such behaviour is known to be tolerated. Current and future College leadership must embrace a more proactive approach to responding to concerns, however the information is received.” 

Suggested solutions include  

• Adopting informal and proactive responses,  
• Ensuring the institution has appropriate expertise 
• Implementing precautionary measures 
• Building trust 
• Raising awareness.  

The webinar wrapped up with an engaging interactive session, where members of the UniSAFE community and the audience discussed the practical applications of these strategies. Notably, the UniSAFE community showcased examples from universities in Slovenia, Italy, and Ireland, providing diverse perspectives and enriching the discussion with insights from different educational contexts. 

Valuable resources: 

• Gemma White ‘Report for Publication and College Response’ (Trinity Hall Cambridge, 2022), available at https://www.trinhall.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Report-for-Publication.pdf
• The 1752 Group, & McAllister Olivarius. (2020). Briefing no. 1: In cases of suspected sexual misconduct can a university pro-actively investigate and speak to potential witnesses in the absence of any formal complaint or complainant? https://1752group.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/the-1752-group-and-mcallister-olivarius_briefing-note-1.pdf
• The 1752 Group, & McAllister Olivarius. (2021). Briefing Note 3: Precautionary measures on receiving a report of staff sexual misconduct, bullying or discrimination. The 1752 Group. https://1752group.files.wordpress.com/2021/09/5272f-briefing-note-3-precautionary-measures.pdf
• Bull, A., & Shannon, E. (2023). Higher Education After #MeToo: Institutional responses to reports of gender-based violence and harassment. The 1752 Group/University of York. https://1752group.com/higher-education-after-metoo/
• See also Nicola Campbell in Wonkhe on using Report and Support anonymous data: https://wonkhe.com/blogs/what-use-are-anonymous-reports-of-sexual-violence & https://wonkhe.com/tag/sexual-harassment/
• Combat Harassment Tool (CHAT) – KU Leuven, Belgium: CHAT is an online risk assessment and monitoring screening tool. Via the user portal, the organisation can share a concise questionnaire with (a group of) employees. They complete it anonymously. The report then gives insight into the bottlenecks and helps the organisation to map its social climate, assess and address risks. CHAT thus forms the basis for dialogue (a ‘chat’) on cross-border behaviour as a step towards an action plan: https://www.kuleuven.be/chat/

Additionally, UniSAFE offers further resources for further reading: 

• UniSAFE’s toolkit: Reflecting on how to address gender-based violence within your institution, draft a policy, or seeking to improve existing ones? Our toolkit is designed to support higher education institutions and research organisations in addressing gender-based violence. This comprehensive toolkit offers guidance on designing developing effective policies and implementing concrete measures, as well as providing evidence based for change!   

• Developing a Protocol for addressing gender-based violence in research and higher education institutions: UniSAFE guidelines: The “Guidance for Protocol development” serves as a comprehensive guide for research and higher education institutions seeking to create protocols addressing gender-based violence within their settings. 

16th January 2024, 11:00 AM CET – 12:30 PM CET, online

UniSAFE is organising a webinar designed for higher education institutions and research organisations grappling with the significant challenge of unreported incidents of gender-based violence in their communities, often finding it difficult to respond effectively.

Results from UniSAFE’s survey among staff and students in European universities and research organisations show that although 62% of the respondents have experienced at least one form of gender-based violence since they started working or studying at their institution, only 7% of students and 23% of staff reported these incidents. Survivors did not report incidents because they were not sure that the behaviour was serious enough to report, they did not recognise the behaviour as violence at the time of the incident or did not think that anything would happen if they reported the incident (Lipinsky et al. 2022)

As underlined in UniSAFE’s White Paper, these findings underscore the high prevalence of gender-based violence and hint at higher education institutions and research organisations’ difficulty to define and address unacceptable behaviours.

This webinar aims to open a discussion on strategies addressing gender-based violence without formal complaints, building upon the work of Dr. Anna Bull, an expert on sexual harassment in higher education. The webinar includes an interactive session where members from the UniSAFE community as well as the audience will engage with Dr. Bull, discussing practical applications of her strategies.

The speaker: 

Anna Bull is a Senior Lecturer in Education and Social Justice at the University of York and a founding member of The 1752 Group. Her research focuses on gender and class inequalities in music education and higher education. She led the study Higher Education After #MeToo, as well as work with the National Union of Students on behalf of The 1752 Group in producing the report ‘Power in the Academy: staff sexual misconduct in UK higher education’ in April 2018. She is the lead author on the report produced by The 1752 Group ‘Silencing Students: Institutional responses to staff sexual misconduct in UK higher education’, published in September 2018. – Source: The 1752 Group. 

 The webinar will take place on the 16th January 2024 from 11:00 AM CET – 12:30 PM CET 

Access all UniSAFE’s webinars and trainings here.

In a significant stride towards ending gender-based violence in academia, the Spanish Ministry of Universities held a conference in Bilbao on the 23rd and the 24rth of October, on the occasion of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, with the collaboration of  UniSAFE and the University of the Basque Country.  

Investigating the reality of gender-based violence in academia 

The conference dived into the reality of gender-based violence in higher education, offering a platform for experts from academia and public administrations to share strategies to address this issue. Sofia Strid, UniSAFE scientific coordinator, highlighted the urgency and the relevance of gender-based violence in European universities, stating: “In Europe, gender-based violence in academia reduces the well-being of staff and students, drives women and marginalised groups out of academia, and has a direct negative impact on research quantity and quality. Eventually, this issue obstructs access to academic freedom.'”  

The first session, led by Anke Lipinsky of GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, highlighted the effects of gender-based violence on individuals and universities. Lipinsky emphasized key challenges such as unequal power relations in academia and the uncertainty among students and staff regarding what constitutes violence. Viliana Pilinkaite Sotirovic, Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences, then proceeded to explore the role of organisational culture in the underreporting of gender-based violence, citing examples such as a culture of silence, fear of retaliation, and victim blaming. She pointed out: “Usually, those who raise their voices are unwelcome; they are referred to as troublemakers.” 

The second session focused on UniSAFE’s research findings regarding institutional responses to gender-based violence, including sexual and sexist harassment. Zuzana Andreska, Centre for Gender and Science, Institute of Sociology, initiated the session by providing an overview of the comprehensive mapping conducted by UniSAFE while exploring the legal and policy frameworks. Following this, Claudia Schredl, GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Center of Excellence Women and Science, analysed UniSAFE’s key survey results for understanding institutional responses. The session was further enriched with a dynamic conversation moderated by Lorena Pajares, UCM, UniSAFE partner, where participants shared inspiring institutional practices, underscoring factors crucial for the effective implementation of strategies and policies to address gender-based violence.  

The third session gathered Chilean legislative professionals who shared their expertise on the progress made and challenges faced in eradicating gender violence while promoting gender equality in higher education. This exchange of experiences added a global dimension to the academic and policy-focused dialog.  

Sharing recommendations to combat gender-based violence across European universities and institutions:   

The concluding session centred on UniSAFE’s recommendations to address gender-based violence in universities and research organisations. A panel discussion featuring participants from diverse European institutions explored the resonance of these recommendations with their work and their practical utility in combating gender-based violence.  

A valuable resource to support higher education institutions and research organisations in ending gender-based violence.

We’re excited to present the UniSAFE Toolkit!  

While research organisations and higher education institutions increasingly acknowledge their institutional responsibility in addressing gender-based violence, setting up effective policies and tools to address this remains challenging. 

Where to start? How can institutions promote cultural change? What key elements should a policy include? How should an institution respond to disclosure? How to better protect students and staff? What are some best practices from other institutions in Europe? And what is the scale of gender-based violence within European higher education and research organisations? 

This toolkit has been designed to support higher education institutions and research organisations in addressing gender-based violence: whether they are just starting to reflect on how to address this issue, designing a policy or are more advanced and seeking to improve an institutional policy or its implementation.  

The materials developed and collected are based on a holistic framework – the 7P model – which will help institutions develop and implement comprehensive policies, covering all aspects such as prevalence, prevention, protection, prosecution, provisions of services, and partnerships. 

 The materials underpinning the toolkit were developed within the UniSAFE project and consist of the theoretical framework (Mergaert et al., 2023), two sets of policy mappings, a quantitative survey, in-depth interviews with victims/survivors, and institutional case studies. All outputs from UniSAFE’s research are available here. Additionally, nine workshops were run between November 2022 and June 2023 with researchers and experts to gather input for the development of tools to address and stop gender-based violence in higher education and research organisations. The empirical material for the different strands of the UniSAFE research has been collected in European academic settings, higher education, and research institutions. This toolkit addresses different aspects that are required for a comprehensive institutional approach to addressing gender-based violence and does not focus on any specific form of violence.

We hope you find this toolbox inspiring as well as useful to develop effective policies and implement concrete measures in your institution, as we work together towards providing students and staff a safe place to study and work! 

Key components: 

 If you’re interested in discovering more about improving, implementing, and assessing institutional policies, join UniSAFE’s final conference,

21-22 November in Namur!  

From policy to practice:
The evidence base for ending gender-based violence in higher education and research

UniSAFE has released its second White Paper intended for institutional leadership, change agents and responsible staff in higher education institutions and research organisations. Building on the project’s state-of-the-art insights on gender-based violence in higher education and research, the white paper is a distillation of critical issues that should be addressed when designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating institutional policies. 

Nearly 62% of the over 42,000 respondents who took part in UniSAFE’s survey on gender-based violence in academia and higher education (2022) disclosed having experienced at least one form of gender-based violence, including incidents of physical, sexual violence and harassment, psychological, economic and online violence, in their place of work or study. Among respondents, 66% of women, 56% of men and 74% of non-binary respondents disclosed experiences of at least one form of gender-based violence. Non-binary, trans and LGBQ+ students and staff, as well as students and staff from ethnic minorities, and students/staff with a disability or a chronic illness were affected more often. In contrast to these numbers, only 7% of students and 23% of staff who experienced gender-based violence in the context of their institution reported the incident. The research in the UniSAFE project shows that survivors did not report incidents because they were not sure that the behaviour was serious enough to report, they did not recognise the behaviour as violence at the time of the incident or did not think that anything would happen if they reported the incident (Lipinsky et al. 2022).  

These findings underscore the high prevalence of gender-based violence, and they hint at the permissiveness of violence in organisational cultures and the failure of institutions to define and address unacceptable behaviours in higher education and research organisations. As supported by other studies conducted as part of the project, they also reveal the continued lack of effective policies, their poor design and the failure to implement them when adopted (Huck et al. 2022; Blazyte and Pilinkaite Sotirovic 2022; Linková et al. 2023; Ranea-Triviño et al. 2022). 

About the white paper

The aim of this white paper is to draw attention to the roles and responsibilities of higher education and research organisations in addressing gender-based violence. These roles and responsibilities may not be recognised or are downplayed, and this results in institutions failing to take appropriate action to ensure safe environments for students and staff. Secondly, the white paper aims to explicate the essential features and elements of effective policies and actions and lastly, to highlight the critical role of institutional leadership in making the policy frameworks and actions work.  

The white paper first defines gender-based violence and its specificities in the sectors of higher education and research. It then addresses the consequences of gender-based violence and goes on to identify the roles and responsibilities of higher education and research organisations in ending gender-based violence. The document then continues with the definition of the main components of institutional policies and their implementation, including evidence related to the consequences of gender-based violence and the roles and responsibilities of institutions. These institutional responsibilities are addressed in relation to the needs of the victims/survivors, the needs of the responsible staff, in terms of the policy design and implementation and in terms of the policy content according to the 7P model theorised in UniSAFE (Mergaert et al. 2023). The paper concludes by first recognising the pivotal role that leadership plays in ensuring the success of institutional policies that help victims and survivors and prevent gender-based violence in organisational settings and finally, by emphasising the need to move to a proactive approach when creating safe working and study environments. 

Monday 4. September, 13:00-16:00 CET

Are you a student and keen on learning more about what gender-based violence is in the context of academia? 

UniSAFE is piloting a webinar designed for higher education students who would like to gain basic knowledge of what gender-based violence is in the context in higher education and academia, including its magnitude, and how it can be analysed. The seminar introduces key concept, prevalence and consequences of gender-based violence in academia and introduces and applies a model to analyse ways of addressing gender-based violence.

This training will later be freely available to all as part of the UniSAFE toolkit.

For this pilot webinar, UniSAFE is looking for students without previous knowledge of gender-based violence in higher education, but with an interest in learning. Students are invited to participate and give feedback on the piloting of the webinar – in order to improve it for its final version, for the benefit of future learners as part of part of reducing and countering gender-based violence in higher education and research performing organisations.

UniSAFE is an EU Horizon 2020-funded research and action project on gender-based violence in universities and research performing institutions. UniSAFE produces knowledge, recommendations and tools to address gender-based violence in universities and research performing organisations. Violence, violations and abuse may be physical, sexual, economic/financial, psychological – online or offline – and can include gender or sexual harassment.

Seats are limited and participants will be registered on a first come first serve basis.

Registrations are open until the 1 of September, 2023.

This webinar took place took place on 28. March online. You can now wiew as replay!

UniSAFE’s survey results shows that despite acknowledgement of gender-based violence as an institutional issue – 72% respondents think that gender-based violence is a problem at their institution – only a small minority of people having experienced gender-based violence at their institution have reported it (13%). Among the reasons most often cited, respondents were not sure whether the behaviour was serious enough to report, did not recognise the behaviour as violence at the time, or did not think anything would happen if it was reported. There is a crucial need for universities and research organisations to raise awareness among students and staff about what gender-based violence is and to assert their commitment towards its eradication.

The UniSAFE project is currently developing and piloting a set of tools to support institutions in their efforts to tackle gender-based violence. Join the community to take part in the co-creation of these tools, be inspired by other institutions’ good practices and build successful awareness raising campaign on gender-based violence!

Organise a successful awareness-raising campaign!

This webinar addressed university and research organisation representatives across Europe and associated countries intent on organising awareness-raising campaigns on gender-based violence at their institution. Find out about the main steps and important considerations to organise a campaign and be inspired by two successful practices from European Universities. Presentations were followed by a session of questions and answers.

Learning objectives

• Learn how to organise and set up a successful awareness raising campaign on gender-based violence
• Mutual learning and exchange: get inspiration from others with examples of successful practices from European universities

Target audience

• Communication officers at academic or research institutions
• Gender Equality Plan team members in academic or research institutions
• Gender equality officers/Focal persons; Equality/Diversity officers

Agenda

11.00 – 11.10 Opening and rationale behind the webinar

11.10 – 11.30 Presentation of UniSAFE’s step-by-step guide for organising awareness-raising campaigns for universities (Yellow Window)

11.30 – 11.50 Inspiring practice: Awareness-raising campaign on sexual harassment |University of Namur, Belgium (Andreia Inacio Ribeiro, Communication and Marketing Officer at the University of Namur)

11.50 – 12.10 Inspiring practice: “Don’t turn a blind eye” #UNIUNIE Contre le harcèlement | The University of Geneva, Switzerland: Brigitte Mantilleri, former Equality officer, Consultant on Gender Equality for the University of Geneva

12.10-12.30 Q&A and wrap-up

Resources

UniSAFE’s step-by-step guide provides a practical tool for universities and research organisations across Europe who would like to learn more about setting up awareness-raising campaigns and replicating the inspiring practices presented. It is meant for communication officers, gender equality/equality and diversity officers, or any staff interested.  

Join the Community!

To stay posted about the following webinars, join the Community here!

The report summarizes the analysis of qualitative research data gathered from 54 individual interviewees about the experiences and/or witnessing of gender-based violence in academia and their impact on individuals and research performing organisations. A qualitative approach was chosen to collect diverse insights on the experiences, perceptions and interpretations of people whose voices are not often heard. The semi-structured interviews were conducted online in the period of February-May 2022. 

Key Findings

Prevalence of Gender-Based Violence in research performing Organisations 

Findings on patterns of incidents, victims and perpetrators 

Intersecting inequalities in terms of gender and race, ethnicity or migration status significantly increase the risks of experiencing gender-based violence. 

 The analysis implies that women are more likely to experience various forms of gender-based violence in academia. Likewise, LGBTQI+, race and migrant status, working on temporary contracts and physical/mental disability are factors that may increase the risk of facing similar issue. 

The results also suggest that perpetrators are mostly men in a supervisory role and/or occupy leading academic or management position in research performing organisations.  

Prevalence of the forms of gender-based violence and their interconnectedness in research-performing organisations 

Physical violence is almost absent in the stories of the interviewees.  

Data analysis of the interviews revealed that manifestations of gender-based violence are usually not single and isolated but rather other forms such as psychological violence, gender harassment, sexual harassment and economic violence.  

Institutional responses 

Many interviewees who experienced or witnessed gender-based violence, tried to find a solution to cope. Almost half of the interviewees informed informally their supervisors or other staff of the university’s administration about incidents. 

Types of response to incidents presented by interviewees 

Most research performing organisations do not tackle the problems of gender-based violence seriously and effectively.

The analysis shows that no response was provided to the victim in almost half of the cases reported either formally or informally; interviewees who reported the issue described that their institutions made efforts to hide incidents of gender-based violence. As for the ones who chose to avoid complaining, they explained that their intentions were to protect themselves from being identified as troublemakers. 

Reflections on Prevalence, Prevention, Protection, Prosecution, Provision of services, Partnership and Policies (7Ps) 

The UniSAFE project adopts a holistic 7Ps model to collect data on the prevalence of the diverse forms of gender-based violence and analyses the role of research performing organisations in preventing, protecting, prosecuting, and providing services, supported by partnership and policies. 

Institutional contexts of research performing organisations facilitating gender-based Violence  

The dependence on the perpetrator leaves the victims in a relatively powerless position. 

The interview analysis shows that discriminatory practices, men’s domination in leadership positions, power inequalities and gender stereotypes facilitate a hostile environment that tolerates gender-based violence in research organisations. In these organisational contexts, victims tend to avoid reporting because of fear of exposure to more serious violence or negative economic/financial and mental/well-being harm. 

Consequences of gender-based violence for individuals and research performing organisations 

Consequences for the victims and the perpetrators

Gender-based violence negatively impacts the victims while the majority of perpetrators rarely face any consequences.  

The research findings suggest that incidents of gender-based violence and inadequate responses had negative consequences for the victims’ physical and mental health, well-being and professional career development. In contrast, the perpetrators did not receive any sanctions. In some cases, they were promoted and remained respected members of the research performing organisation.   

Consequences for the research performing organisations

There is a lack of proactiveness from the institution. 

The report drew the attention on the negative consequences that were mainly related to the loss of the employees or students, negative impact on reputation of research performing organisations and/or financial loss. As for the few positive consequences, they mainly identified the establishment of new rules and guidelines, development of training for staff members, as well as brought positive changes in the work or study environment due to the suspension or dismissal of the perpetrators. 

Photo Credit: Across the University of Cambridge by Victoria Heath. University of Cambridge is not included in the universities involved in this research.