Faculty Confronting Gender-Based Violence on Campus: Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

Faculty have played an important role in the ongoing efforts to confront gender-based violence on college campuses, as teachers, researchers, advocates, and policy advisors. Nevertheless, few institutions have welcomed faculty activism on this issue, especially when it took the form of vocal support for survivor-led efforts to transform campus policies and culture. This article examines the nature and scope of faculty involvement in confronting gender-based violence on college campuses across North America between 2014 and 2018. Our analysis of the range of roles and responsibilities faculty have assumed and the challenges and obstacles they have faced is informed by our own involvement with the U.S.-based group, Faculty Against Rape (FAR), which is dedicated to supporting faculty involvement in confronting gender-based violence on campus. Informed by the context of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements on one hand, and the changes in Federal and State protections for student survivors in the Trump–DeVos era on the other, the article concludes with a list of best practices for faculty involvement.

Perception of Gender-Based Violence and Sexual Harassment in University Students: Analysis of the Information Sources and Risk within a Relationship

“…Nonetheless, it can be considered very positive that training given by experts in the subject is the second most common source of knowledge on gender-based violence. This highlights positive results and supports the ideas presented by various authors about the need for education in initial training [39]. However, it is necessary to take into account the existence of great dissimilarities among the different education/training programs in different Spanish universities [36], and it is important to conduct a deep analysis into the diverse programs and their benefits.…”

“…In this university context and after the review of several pieces of research, we found a common problem independent of the field of study from research focused on degrees related to the Social Sciences, such as those related to Health Sciences [36]. Specific focus should be given to studies into teacher training [37][38][39][40], highlighting the need to incorporate education into gender and sexual diversity in initial teacher training, as they will have a primary responsibility for developing a comprehensive education in their future students [38].…”

Sexual harassment and assault predict sleep disturbances and is partly mediated by nightmares: Findings from a national survey of all university students in Norway

“…Moreover, although the present study also captured sexual harassment and assault that happened outside of the university setting, the present results stress the importance of universities implementing programmes and policies aimed at preventing sexual harassment and assault. This is particularly important given the association of sexual harassment and assault with mental health problems, adverse educational and work‐related outcomes (Barrett et al., 2014; Dworkin, 2018; Dworkin et al., 2017; Hailes et al., 2019; Paolucci et al., 2001), and later academic career opportunities (Amon, 2017; Edmunds et al., 2016; Sharoni & Klocke, 2019).…”

Lifestyle and Violence among Dating in University Students

“…In recent years, studies related to gender violence in universities [15][16][17][18] have shown that lessons in the classroom about how to avoid situations of intimate partner violence are necessary, but have they related lifestyles related to the consumption of psychoactive substances and/or alcohol with gender violence? [19,20].…”