As part of the GESIS lecture series, CEWS organizes a colloquium with two lectures on
“Sexual harassment and sexualized violence in higher education”
at GESIS Cologne, conference room OST on 2 December 2019 starting at 1.30 p.m.. The colloquium will be held in English.
The speakers:
Alice Farneti M. A., (University Bielefeld) will talk about “The Movement against sexual violence on campus in Montrealer universities”.
Dr. Lisa Mense and Dr. Heike Mauer (Coordination Office of the Women's & Gender Research Network NRW) will address
“Activities against sexual harassment and gender-based violence in higher education. An analysis of Guidelines in NRW” in their lecture.
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Abstract - The Movement against sexual violence on campus in Montrealer universities
After several high profile cases of sexual violence on campus received extensive mediatic attention in 2017, Quebec passed the Bill 151, an act to prevent and fight sexual violence in higher education institutions. The bill mandates universities to adopt policies against sexual violence before January 2019 and a code of conduct for student-professor intimate relationships. Overall, actors involved in the struggle against sexual assault have welcomed the adoption of the bill; however, many activists have raised criticism for the need of stronger minimum standards and oversight mechanisms. In Quebec, students’ unions and feminist groups had a leading role in opening the debate on sexual violence in universities and pushing the institutions to create policies. Drawing from a preliminary research I carried out in universities in Montreal, in this paper I focus on the conflicts between the activists and the academic administrations. During the presentation, I will examine how students’ stakeholders and feminist groups negotiate with the institutions to develop anti-violence policies, with the aim of exploring the political process that stands behind the creation of policies.
Alice Farneti M. A. is a doctoral researcher at the Bielefeld Graduate School in History and Sociology (BGHS). Her research project focuses on the politics against sexual violence in Quebecer universities. She is particularly interested in the activism against sexual violence on campus and its relation with the academic institutions.
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Abstract - Activities against sexual harassment and gender-based violence in higher education. An analysis of Guidelines in NRW
Due to hashtag feminism and debates on everyday sexism, GBV has regained awareness not only in public debate but also in the context of higher education. Recently, the German Rector’s Conference (Hochschulrektorenkonferenz) and the Federal Conference of Equal Opportunities Representatives (BuKoF) published recommendations for universities in order to implement preventive measures, advance a non-discriminatory scientific culture and support persons affected. Despite these developments, the taboos surrounding the issues of sexualized discrimination and violence in academia remain still effective, while at the same time, research focusing on the extent of GBV in academia and/or on a better gender theoretical understanding of all forms of GBV (including questions of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression as well as an intersectional perspective) remains scarce.
In our presentation, we address how higher education institutions in North Rhine-Westphalia (universities, universities for applied science as well as colleges of art and music) implement anti-discrimination law and how they put recommendations against sexual harassment and GBV into action. Our presentation is based on research within the framework of the Gender-Report 2019, which will be published at the end of 2019. Our study contributes to research findings on interventions against GBV in higher education, including training, policies and legal frameworks, as well as bystander interventions.
The presentation focuses on the measures taken against GBV by the universities as well as an analysis of the guidelines against sexual harassment and gender-based violence, providing insight on how these institutions frame the problem of GBV (i.e. as an issue of abuse of power, as an issue of peer violence, as an issue of marginalized groups and so forth).
Dr. Lisa Mense and Dr. Heike Mauer are both research associates at the Coordination Office of the Women's & Gender Research Network NRW, University of Duisburg-Essen. Their research focuses on Gender Equality in Higher Education. They are co-writers of the “Gender-Report 2019. Hochschulentwicklungen, Gleichstellungspraktiken, genderspezifische Entgeltstatistik”, which will be published by the end of 2019.
The event starts at 1.30 p.m. in the Conference Room OST, the lectures - including discussions - end at 3.30 p.m. The talks of the GESIS lecture series will be transmitted via live stream with slides and audio.
Scientific contact: Dr. Anke Lipinsky anke.lipinsky(at)gesis(dot)org
Contact: Andrea Usadel andrea.usadel(at)gesis(dot)org
We are looking forward to welcoming you at the event!