The intricacies of developing policy for sexual harassment: insights from Flemish universities: Sofie Avery, Ghent University, Belgium

Event Date: 12 November 2024

Speaker: Sofie Avery, Ghent University, Belgium

Time: 1.30pm- 2.10pm

Location: TL5.60

Since 2022, testimonies of sexual harassment (SH) at Flemish higher education institutions have garnered significant attention in the Flemish media. As a result, universities face increased societal and legislative pressure to develop adequate policies and procedures regarding sexual harassment.  Currently, Flemish university policies either define SH in a very general manner, or do not define it altogether. One of the arguments to support this generality is that it is ‘neutral’: individuals are free to make sense of their own experiences.

However, many experiences of SH in academia do not fit the dominant narrative, either because they occur in the so-called ‘grey area’ or because they do not correlate with rape myths that foreground paradigm cases and ideal survivors (cisgender, white, heterosexual women). (Harris and Linder 2017) Due to the pervasiveness of this single story, the perceived neutrality of policy could however leave survivors whose stories do not fit this dominant narrative without the (institutional) vocabulary necessary to interpret and voice their experiences and, moreover, ensure they are heard. This in turn can prevent minoritized survivors, notably those with intersecting minority identities, from getting the help they need. An international research review on SH in academia suggests that “The diversification of exposure, relating both to exposure to different types of sexual harassment and sexual violence, and also the exposure of various minority groups, should guide the universities’ work of preventing and handling sexual harassment and providing support to those exposed.” (Bundestam & Lundqvist 2020) 

Using a mixed-methods qualitative approach, I have examined current Flemish university policy on SH with respect to its attention to the diversification of exposure to SH in both senses: exposure to different types of SH and exposure of different minority groups. In this seminar, I will present the results of this study, consisting of a Critical Discourse Analysis of SH policy at all five Flemish universities and, taking one university as a case study, in-depth interviews with actors who are tasked by the institution with the follow-up of cases of sexual harassment (ombudspeople, prevention officers, etc.)

Published: 23 October 2024