Sexual harassment in higher education – a systematic review
Autor/in:
Bondestam, Fredrik; Lundqvist, Maja
Quelle: European Journal of Higher Education, 24 (2020) 80, S 1–23
Inhalt: Sexual harassment is an epidemic throughout global higher education systems and impact individuals, groups and entire organizations in profound ways. Precarious working conditions, hierarchical organizations, a normalization of gender-based violence, toxic academic masculinities, a culture of silence and a lack of active leadership are all key features enabling sexual harassment. The aim of this study is to review scientific knowledge on sexual harassment in higher education. A thematic focus is on (a) knowledge derived from top-ranked peer-reviewed articles in the research field, (b) the prevalence of sexual harassment among students and staff, (c) reported consequences of sexual harassment, (d) examples of primary, secondary and tertiary preventive measures, and (e) core challenges to research on sexual harassment in higher education. The published research evidence suggests several findings of importance, mainly: (a) prevalence of sexual harassment among students is reported by on average one out of four female students; (b) severe consequences of sexual harassment impacts individuals but the effects on the quality in research and education is unknown; (c) there is almost no evidence supporting the supposed effects of major preventive measures; and (d) research on sexual harassment in higher education lacks theoretical, longitudinal, qualitative and intersectional approaches and perspectives.
Schlagwörter:consequences; higher education; prevalence; prevention; research; sexual harassment; systematic review
Let There Be Clamor : Exploring the Emergence of a New Public Sphere in India and Use of Social Media as an Instrument of Activism
Autor/in:
Dey, Sreyoshi
Quelle: Journal of Communication Inquiry, 44 (2020) 1, S 48–68
Inhalt: This article traces the emergence of a new public sphere in India by applying a critical-cultural theoretical lens to the digital discourse on the Twitter platform surrounding the 2014 Jadavpur University student movement against on-campus sexual violence. Social media platforms allowed the student movement to challenge not only the sociopolitical complications in academia but also the structural silence surrounding issues of sexual assault in the country. In this study, the method of qualitative textual analysis is used to critically analyze the tweets made using the hashtag #hokkolorob (meaning “let there be clamor”), during the movement. The findings in this examination indicate that the Internet today has the capacity to guide public opinion formation, influence collective action, and is emerging as a discursive public sphere among the youth of India. This study contributes toward an understanding of the use of social media communication for political mobilization in the Indian context.
Schlagwörter:India; Indien; Internet; media; new media; sexual violence; sexuelle Gewalt; social change; Social Media; social movement; textual analysis
The Association Between Gender Inequality and Sexual Violence in the U.S
Autor/in:
Kearns, Megan C.; D'Inverno, Ashley Schappell; Reidy, Dennis E.
Quelle: American journal of preventive medicine, 58 (2020) 1, S 12–20
Inhalt: Few societal-level factors are established as risk or protective factors for sexual violence. Traditional gender norms and gender inequality are linked to sexual violence, but much of this research was conducted internationally or is becoming outdated and may not reflect current norms in the U.S. This study expands on previously published research by examining gender inequality's association with state-level sexual violence.
Schlagwörter:gender norms; gender-based violence; sexual violence
What is gender, anyway: a review of the options for operationalising gender - online first
Autor/in:
Lindqvist, Anna; Gustafsson Sendén, Marie; Renström, Emma
Quelle: Psychology & Sexuality, (2020)
Inhalt: In the social sciences, many quantitative research findings as well as
presentations of demographics are related to participants’ gender. Most
often, gender is represented by a dichotomous variable with the possible
responses of woman/man or female/male, although gender is not a binary
variable. It is, however, rarely defined what is meant by gender. In this
article, we deconstruct the concept ‘gender’ as consisting of several facets,
and argue that the researcher needs to identify relevant aspects of gender
in relation to their research question. We make a thorough exposition of
considerations that the researcher should bear in mind when formulating
questions about each facet, in order to exemplify how complex this
construct is. We also remind the researcher that gender is not a binary
category and discuss challenges in the balance between taking existing
gender diversity into account and yet sorting participants into gender
categorisations that function in statistical analyzes. To aid in this process,
we provide an empirical example on how gender identity may be categorised when using a free-text response. Lastly, we suggest that other
measurements than participants’ gender might be better predictors of the
outcome variable.
Does country-level gender equality explain individual risk of intimate partner violence against women? A multilevel analysis of individual heterogeneity and discriminatory accuracy (MAIHDA) in the European Union
Quelle: European journal of public health, 30 (2020) 2, S 293–299
Inhalt: BACKGROUND - Gender equality is widely accepted as an important explanatory factor for the occurrence of intimate partner violence (IPV) against women. However, the relationship is not straightforward, as high country-level gender equality is not always associated with lower IPV prevalence. We apply 'multilevel analysis of individual heterogeneity and discriminatory accuracy' (MAIHDA) to (i) quantify the extent to which the country of residence determines individual risk of IPV and (ii) investigate the association between country-level gender equality and individual experience of IPV, and to which extent this association explains the observed between-country differences.
METHODS - Using data from the 2012 European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights survey on violence against women we applied MAIHDA to analyse experiences of physical and sexual IPV among 42 000 women living in the EU. We fitted three consecutive models, and calculated specific individual contextual effects (measures of association) as well as the general contextual effects (measures of variance) and the discriminatory accuracy (DA).
RESULTS - Our findings show that the relationship between experiences of IPV and country-level gender equality is weak and heterogeneous. The general contextual effect is small and the DA is low, indicating that country boundaries are rather irrelevant for understanding the individual risk of IPV.
CONCLUSIONS - Findings from the present study do not imply that that gender equality is unimportant in relation to IPV, but rather that information on country of residence or country-level gender equality does not discriminate very well with regards to individual experiences of IPV in cross-national comparisons.
Schlagwörter:EU; gender equality; Geschlechtergerechtigkeit; Gewalt gegen Frauen; intimate partner violence; logistic regression; logistische Regression; multilevel analysis; Partnerschaftsgewalt; violence against women
CEWS Kategorie:Europa und Internationales, Sexuelle Belästigung und Gewalt
Attitudes Toward Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in the European Union : A Systematic Review
Autor/in:
Gracia, Enrique; Lila, Marisol; Santirso, Faraj A.
Quelle: European Psychologist, 25 (2020) 2, S 104–121
Inhalt: Attitudes toward intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) are increasingly recognized as central to understanding of this major social and public health problem, and guide the development of more effective prevention efforts. However, to date this area of research is underdeveloped in western societies, and in particular in the EU. The present study aims to provide a systematic review of quantitative studies addressing attitudes toward IPVAW conducted in the EU. The review was conducted through Web of Science, PsychINFO, Medline, EMBASE, PUBMED, and the Cochrane Library, in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) recommendations. This review aimed to identify empirical studies conducted in the EU, published in English in peer-reviewed journals from 2000 to 2018, and analyzing attitudes toward IPVAW. A total of 62 of 176 eligible articles were selected according to inclusion criteria. Four sets of attitudes toward IPVAW were identified as the main focus of the studies: legitimation, acceptability, attitudes toward intervention, and perceived severity. Four main research themes regarding attitudes toward IPVAW emerged: correlates of attitudes, attitudes as predictors, validation of scales, and attitude change interventions. Although interest in this research area has been growing in recent years, the systematic review revealed important gaps in current knowledge on attitudes toward IPVAW in the EU that limits its potential to inform public policy. The review outlines directions for future study and suggests that to better inform policy making, these future research efforts would benefit from an EU-level perspective.
Schlagwörter:Einstellung; EU; Gewalt gegen Frauen; intimate partner violence; Partnerschaftsgewalt; systematischer Review; violence against women
CEWS Kategorie:Europa und Internationales, Sexuelle Belästigung und Gewalt
Ensuring the comparability of cross-national survey data on intimate partner violence against women: a cross-sectional, population-based study in the European Union
Inhalt: OBJECTIVES
To ensure the cross-national comparability of the set of questions addressing physical and sexual intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) included in the European Union (EU) Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) survey. Once the measurement invariance of these measures is established, we aim to make appropriate and valid comparisons of the levels of physical and sexual IPVAW across the EU countries.
DESIGN
Cross-sectional, population-based study.
PARTICIPANTS
Data were drawn from the survey conducted by the FRA on violence against women, including the responses of 42 002 adult women from the 28 countries of the EU.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
The set of questions addressing lifetime prevalence of physical and sexual IPVAW used in the FRA survey. The psychometric properties (ie, reliability and validity) of these measures were examined, as well as their latent structure and their measurement invariance across the 28 EU countries.
RESULTS
The physical and sexual IPVAW measures presented adequate internal consistency and validity evidence based on their relations to other variables in all countries. A latent two-factor structure was supported and scalar invariance was established across countries. Our results showed that the average levels of physical and sexual IPVAW were highest in Denmark, Finland, Sweden and UK compared with the rest of the EU countries. In many of the other countries the levels of these types of violence overlapped, especially in the case of sexual IPVAW.
CONCLUSIONS
The findings of this study showed that the set of questions addressing physical and sexual IPVAW included in the FRA survey can be compared across all EU countries, highlighting the importance of testing the measurement equivalence of the instruments used in large sociodemographic surveys in order to make valid cross-national comparisons.
Schlagwörter:Gewalt gegen Frauen; Partnerbeziehung; reliability; Skala; Validität; validity; vergleichende Forschung
CEWS Kategorie:Europa und Internationales, Sexuelle Belästigung und Gewalt
Public Helping Reactions to Intimate Partner Violence against Women in European Countries: The Role of Gender-Related Individual and Macrosocial Factors
Autor/in:
Serrano-Montilla, Celia; Valor-Segura, Inmaculada; Padilla, José-Luis; Lozano, Luis Manuel
Quelle: International journal of environmental research and public health, 17 (2020) 17
Inhalt: Public helping reactions are essential to reduce a victim's secondary victimization in intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) cases. Because gender-related characteristics have been linked widely to IPVAW prevalence, the study aimed to examine individual attitudes and perceptions toward different forms of violence against women, as well as gender-related macrosocial ideological and structural factors, in explaining helping reactions to IPVAW across 28 European countries. We performed multilevel logistic regression analysis, taking measures from the Eurobarometer 2016 (N = 7115) and the European Institute for Gender Equality datasets. Our study revealed a greater individual perceived IPVAW prevalence, positive perception about the appropriateness of a legal response to psychological and sexual violence against women partners, and less VAW-supportive attitudes predicted helping reactions (i.e., formal, informal), but not negative reactions to IPVAW. Moreover, individuals from European countries with a greater perceived IPVAW prevalence and gender equality preferred formal reactions to IPVAW. Otherwise, in the European countries with lesser perceived IPVAW prevalence and negative perceptions about the appropriate legal response to psychological and sexual violence, people were more likely to provide informal reactions to IPVAW. Our results showed the role of gender-related characteristics influenced real reactions toward known victim of IPVAW.
Schlagwörter:cross-cultural comparison; gender equality; Intervention; intimate partner violence; Structural factor; victimization; violence against women
Quelle: The European Journal of Psychology Applied to Legal Context, 12 (2020) 2, S 77–84
Inhalt: Motivational strategies are among the most promising approaches to improve the effectiveness of batterer intervention programs (BIPs). An individualized motivational plan (IMP) is one of these motivational strategies. The present study aimed to explore whether adding an IMP to a standard BIP improved the participant-facilitator working alliance and participants’ protherapeutic behaviors. To this end a randomized controlled trial was conducted. One hundred fifty-three men convicted of intimate partner violence were randomly assigned to either a standard BIP (control condition, n = 79) or a standard BIP plus IMP (experimental condition, n = 74). Working alliance (i.e., general working alliance, agreement, and bond) was assessed with the Working Alliance Inventory-Observer, short version. Protherapeutic behaviors (i.e., assumption of responsibility, participant role behavior, and group value) were assessed with the Observational Coding of Protherapeutic Group Behavior. Both working alliance and protherapeutic behaviors were assessed by an external observer early and late in intervention. Our results showed that both general working alliance and agreement and bond, were significantly higher in the standard BIP plus IMP intervention condition, both early and late in intervention. All protherapeutic behaviors were significantly higher in the standard BIP plus IMP early in intervention, and also late in intervention for assumption of responsibility and group value. Our findings have important practical implications as our results clearly showed that a motivational strategy tool such as the IMP improves key intervention processes (i.e., working alliance and protherapeutic behaviors) in BIPs, therefore increasing their effectiveness.
Schlagwörter:Experiment; Gewalt gegen Frauen; Gewaltforschung; Interventionsprogramm für Gewalttäter; intimate partner violence; Kontrollgruppen; Partnerschaftsgewalt; randomized control trial; violence against women
Finding the Strength to Heal: Understanding Recovery After Gender-Based Violence
Autor/in:
Sinko, Laura; Saint Arnault, Denise
Quelle: Violence against women, 26 (2020) 12, S 1616–1635
Inhalt: Little research has focused on the trauma healing processes of gender-based violence (GBV) survivors, with most research focusing on adverse outcomes. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to explore the nature of GBV healing through survivor narratives. Our analysis revealed important barriers and facilitators of trauma healing. Social context was discovered to have a powerful influence over both barriers and facilitators. Analysis of the nature of healing revealed three main objectives: reconnecting with the self, others, and the world. This information can be utilized by clinicians to create safer, more empowering, healing spaces for survivors.
Schlagwörter:gender-based violence; sexual violence; survivor experience; trauma