The Inventory of the Research Lessons Learned in the Field of Ethics presents a set of reflections regarding the ethical dimension of studying gender-based violence that stems from this transnational, multi-site and multi-design research project on gender-based violence in academia. The UniSAFE study conducted an extensive policy mapping at the national and institutional levels, a cross-national survey of 45 European academic organisations, 16 case studies on the institutional responses to gender-based violence conducted in 15 countries and 52 online in-depth interviews with researchers who had experienced or witnessed gender-based violence.

Key components

The Inventory of the Research Lessons Learned in the Field of Ethics presents twenty lessons grouped into four main parts: (I) Building an Ethical System for the Research Project, (II) Research Participants, (III) Researchers, and (IV) Data. It also includes a brief introduction explaining how to use the Inventory as well as a warning on ways some institutions misuse research ethics to avoid studies on gender-based violence.

• Building an Ethical System for the Research Project

The first part of this Inventory discusses setting the ethical framework (lesson 1) and implementing it in the research (lesson 2), as well as creating project bodies aimed at supporting research ethics (lesson 3), applying for ethical approval (lesson 4) and preparing for difficult and unexpected issues (for instance, incidental findings) that can occur in research (lesson 5).

• Research Participants

The second part of the Inventory presents key issues concerning research participants of studies on gender-based violence, namely, ways of reaching out to them (lesson 1), the process of obtaining informed consent (lesson 2), protection of participants’ safety (lesson 3) and ensuring their well-being (lesson 4) as well as giving back to those who participated in the study (lesson 5).

• Researchers

The third part of the Inventory is dedicated to researchers and includes lessons concerning training on research ethics (lesson 1) and resolution of internal conflicts emerging in research teams as well as between researchers and research institutions (lesson 2), clarifying the role of researchers (lesson 3), emphasising the importance of reflexivity and multi-positionality (lesson 4) as well as dealing with emotional consequences that studying gender-based violence can have on researchers (lesson 5).

• Data

The fourth part of the Inventory addresses essential issues related to data, including the significance of legal regulations (lesson 1), safeguarding data confidentiality (lesson 2), secure storage and protection of data (lesson 3), resolving concerns connected to research data and results ownership (lesson 4), and creating a research project’s authorship policy (lesson 5).

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. 

UniSAFE comes to an end in January 2024, but it’s not the end of the story!

Starting in March 2024, the GenderSAFE project will build on the results and tools developed in UniSAFE to support research and higher education institutions in setting up comprehensive policies to effectively counter-act gender-based violence.

The EU-funded GenderSAFE project will support research and higher education institutions in establishing safe, inclusive, and respectful environments by setting up comprehensive policies to effectively counter-act gender-based violence. Its overall objective is to contribute to building safe, inclusive, and respectful research and higher education. This will be realised through building capacities, mutual learning and exchange, setting up instruments to monitor the uptake and content of Research Performing Organisation (RPO) policies and promoting uptake of policies at the level of the national authorities and Research Funding Organisations (RFOs).

This overall objective will be achieved through a five-fold strategy comprising:
• Increasing robustness of zero-tolerance policies by building a common policy discourse in the EU reflecting state-of-the-art theoretical debates, including attention to power and intersectionality, mobility and precarity,
• Facilitating the uptake and ownership of a zero-tolerance approach to gender-based violence policies through mutual learning, exchange, and co-design in a Community of Practice, involving multiple circles of various types of stakeholders,
• Building institutional capacities to set up and implement gender-based violence policies through training of responsible staff and officers,
• Creating a knowledge base on the uptake and contents of zero-tolerance policies at RPOs in the EU through a data collection and monitoring system,
• Raising awareness and creating uptake through carefully designed communication, dissemination, and advocacy activities.

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.  

Bring a poster to UniSAFE’s final event! We’ll be having two poster exhibitions:  

• Sister projects and related initiatives’ outputs related to working towards gender equality in research organisations and academia. 
• Examples of awareness-raising campaigns related to gender-based violence in universities and research organisations (all languages welcome). 

Poster size: A0 (portrait or landscape) 

We would suggest for the poster to be clear and attention-grabbing, summarising the campaign’s theme or message with additional information  

Key features

• Introduction: A brief introductory section that outlines the purpose of the poster and provides context for the campaign / project.  
• Key Messages/Objectives: Summarise the main messages / objectives used in the campaign / project.  
• Visuals: Incorporate eye-catching visuals such as images, graphics, or infographics that help convey the message and impact. For the posters related to the awareness-raising campaigns, use images that capture the essence of the campaign or add a photo of the poster disseminated. 

• Contact Information: Include contact details for individuals involved for further inquiries. 
• Logo: Include the logo or branding.  

Additional features

For awareness-raising campaign posters

• Campaign overview: Describe the campaign’s design, including its name, branding, and visual identity. 
• Outreach Strategy: Explain how the campaign reached its target audience. This can include details about the use of social media, events, collaborations, or any other methods used to engage the university community. 
• Results and Impact: Present data or evidence of the campaign’s success. This might include statistics on reach, engagement, or changes in awareness related to the campaign. 
• Testimonials or Quotes: Include quotes or testimonials from individuals who were impacted by or involved in the campaign. This can add a personal touch to the poster. 
• Call to Action: Encourage the audience to take action or get involved in some way. This could be a request to follow the campaign on social media, attend future events, or support the cause. 

For project posters

• Project overview: Provide an overview of your project and its significance/unique elements in working towards gender equality.  
• Creative elements: Use creative elements, such as unique visuals, colours, etc, to make your project stand out and leave an impression.  

Feel free to be creative!  

We welcome your poster submissions until 10. November 2023 EOB.

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!  

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.

Spanish Presidency of the European Council of EU

 Conference:
Ending Gender-Based Violence in Academia

Bilbao, 23 – 24 October 2023

Within the Spanish Presidency of the European Council of EU, the Spanish Ministry of Universities is organising a conference on “Ending gender-based violence in academia”, 23-24 October in Bilbao. A conference designed to be a continuation of the one held in Prague in November 2022 within the Czech presidency which launched the Call for action.

Drawing on results from UniSAFE, the conference aims to draw the attention of the multiple forms of gender-based violence that take place in Academia, understanding the phenomenon, the scope of the problem and its causes, determinants, and consequences, as well as showing solutions and institutional responses, its limitations and potentialities, and presenting recommendations to tackle the problem.

The main audience to be targeted will be higher education institutions and research organisations as well as university organisations, including Rectors’ Conferences.

 The event will take place in person in Bilbao, 23-24 October 2023, at Bizkaia Aretoa-UPV/EHU.

Programme, practical information now available at: https://www.conferencegenderacademia.com/