Scientific Evidence and Prevention Actions
There is only one way to prevent harassment: the harasser must have no doubt that the context of upstanders will not tolerate either gender-based violence (GBV) or isolating gender violence (IGV). Breaking the silence that protects harassers and strengthening networks of solidarity with the victims and those who support them is the best prevention.
Some universities are already implementing training programs based on scientific evidence with social impact with excellent results for the prevention and intervention against sexual harassment at university. Delivered by top-level scientific and human experts in GBV at universities, these programs include the voices of victims, such as the MeToo University movement, to prevent the isolation of solidarity networks.
Training should provide answers on how to act in delicate situations such as sexual harassment, respecting the victim’s will but ensuring the aggressor is not left unpunished. In the first edition of this training at the FCPS UAB, deans from three different academic fields (sciences, psychology, sociology) discussed weaknesses in the system for appropriate action. Six months later, evidence-based training with trainers from various disciplines had been consolidated; faculties were preparing actions to break the silence around the issue of GBV, including information provided in the course; the Autonomous University of Barcelona had advanced in improving its protocol, and had resolved disciplinary cases with sanctions previously unseen, based on the severity of the proven facts.
If we want our universities to be environments free of violence, we still need to overcome historical resistance that makes it difficult to act in order to protect victims, which stems from the feudalism that has reigned in universities.
These are some of the obstacles:
- Often, delays occur when harassment is reported, and the victim becomes exhausted and ultimately gives up. Universities’ modifications and reforms to protocols can consider this, so that in serious cases with evidence, a disciplinary file is opened directly. However, a pending issue is applying distancing measures from teaching when a disciplinary file is open, to prevent contact with former or future victims. We must not lose sight of the fact that the priority should be to resolve the situation in such a way that harassment ends, and the victims become successful survivors.
- For decades, the impunity of harassers has prevailed until there has been a willingness to ensure that the mechanisms provided in the legal framework work. The key lies in applying the protocols with the intention of ending the impunity that protects harassers, while safeguarding the victims and applying the sanctions that universities already foresee without fear. It is essential to ensure that institutional channels work well, with guarantees for everyone. If not, people will seek alternative routes, such as making anonymous complaints that could be used by the harassers (students or professors) to slander those who have supported the victims.
- Silence protects the harassers and destroys the victims. An effective action to break the silence is to establish a process where anyone who knows of a GBV case knows who to inform (the institutional person responsible) and through which route (in writing). The victim’s consent is crucial, as is ensuring that the person receiving the information knows they must follow the proper process. Making these mechanisms visible on institutional websites, in the objectives of university government programs, faculties, and departments, allows: 1) victims to know that there is an institutional public stance and that they will have support; and 2) faculty and the community in general to know what to do in the event of a case and not fear reprisals if they report or show their support for the victims.
- Isolation of the victims and their support networks is created. The Catalan Law 17/2020 already includes institutional violence and second-order violence, so isolating a victim’s solidarity network could be considered a crime. Universities are obligated to accompany and support victims and those who suffer reprisals for defending them. Therefore, it is key to collaborate with victim networks. In September 2022, fifteen Spanish universities hosted events to raise awareness and sensitize the MeToo University movement, showing a stance that supports its scientific and human quality.
- Fear of being accused of sexual harassment at university. How many sanctions do we know about for sexual harassment in universities? The reality is that there are few. It is possible to feel that anyone can be accused of harassment at any time, but do we think the same when it comes to accusations of theft or murder? No one is sanctioned based solely on someone’s word; sanctions occur because there is evidence. Investigating cases guarantees fairness for everyone; not doing so strengthens the absolute impunity of harassers.
- Fear of discrediting the institution if cases of harassment are made public and data is released. The cases are there, and this thinking encourages silence and impunity. A system that guarantees protection for the harasser but not for the victim wears down the victims, makes our universities worse, and damages our international reputation. In the case of murder, no one questions the seriousness if there is ‘only’ one victim, but with GBV, this often happens; fraud or theft is not considered less serious because there was a previously consensual sexual relationship, but with GBV, it is often doubted.
Being excellent as a university internationally means being excellent scientifically and humanly. Creating safe environments for all members of the university community requires actions to prevent GBV and IGV by creating protective environments where victims and those who welcome them know they will have support and will not be isolated.
Article translated from Periódico Educación
Professor of Sociology and Former Dean of the Faculty of Political Science and Sociology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona