UGOT/GenderSAFE seminar: Understanding and Improving Gender-Based Violence Reporting in Academic Institutions

Understanding and Improving Gender-Based Violence Reporting in Academic Institutions

10 June 2024, 12:00 – 13:00 CET

Online
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Department of Sociology and Work Science,
University of Gothenburg F417, Campus Haga

Speakers: Professor Anne Laure Humbert and Dr Anna Bull

Chair: Sofia Strid

This seminar will examine dynamics of reporting gender-based violence and sexual harassment within academic institutions across Europe and the UK. Two presentations will explore how institutional responses, shaped by deeply ingrained gender regimes, affect the outcomes and experiences of individuals reporting such incidents. Through a combination of multilevel quantitative analysis and qualitative research, the session will highlight the challenges posed by current reporting mechanisms and discuss potential strategies for creating more effective and supportive environments within academic settings. Anne Laure Humbert will present data from an extensive survey conducted across 15 European countries, focusing on the academic consequences for those who report gender-based violence. These findings emphasise that the severity of consequences is related to the victims’ confidence in institutional responses. This confidence not only impacts the academic repercussions but also acts as a protective factor, particularly among staff members, reducing the negative academic impacts associated with reporting gender-based violence incidents. Anna Bull will discuss findings from interviews with students and staff in UK higher education who have navigated formal reporting processes for gender-based violence or harassment. This presentation will demonstrate how institutional gender regimes—through aspects like power dynamics and gender-neutral policies—critically influence the stages of formal reporting, from evidence collection to assessment, often undermining the success of such complaints.

Both presentations will argue for the necessity of systemic changes—beyond mere procedural adjustments—to address the underlying causes of gender-based violence and harassment. They will propose fostering a culture of respect, building trust in institutional processes, and establishing more effective, gender-sensitive reporting mechanisms as essential steps toward this goal.

This session aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of how gender dynamics and institutional processes intersect, fostering a dialogue on evolving academic institutions to ensure justice and support for all, especially those vulnerable to gender-based violence.

About the speakers

Anne Laure Humbert, PhD, is Professor of Gender and Statistics and Co-Director of the Centre for Diversity Policy Research and Practice at Oxford Brookes University, and a visiting researcher at the Department of Sociology and Work Science at University of Gothenburg. Anne is very experienced in gender equality research at national, EU and international level, policy analysis and assessment as well as gender statistics. She specialises in applying quantitative methods to comparative social and economic analysis, particularly in relation to work and organisations, entrepreneurship, and work-life balance. She holds a visiting position at the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London.

Dr Anna Bull is a Senior Lecturer in Education and Social Justice at the University of York, and co-director of The 1752 Group, a research and campaigning organisation working to address staff sexual misconduct in higher education. As well as multiple academic and public-facing publications on sexual misconduct in HE, Anna was an academic advisor to the National Union of Students for their report Power in the Academy. She sits on national advisory boards to address gender-based violence in higher education in the UK and Ireland, and co-authored The 1752 Group and McAllister Olivarius’ Sector Guidance to address staff sexual misconduct in UK higher education. She has also carried out research into inequalities in classical music and music education, as well as sexual harassment in the film and television industry in the report Safe to Speak Up? Sexual harassment in the UK film and television industry since #MeToo.