Perceptions of help-seeking for sexual violence and harassment by minoritised United Kingdom Higher Education students

Melbourne Research Alliance to End Violence against women and their children (MAEVe) is a network of interdisciplinary researchers focused on addressing the complex problem of violence against women and their children. MAEVe strives to make a difference to the lives of individuals, families and communities through collaboration and participatory research co-designed with survivors.

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Session description:

Sexual violence affecting university students is a significant problem worldwide. Though recent legislation introduced into UK universities aims to tackle the problem, it remains to be seen how effective this will be. Furthermore, within much existing research and policy, the voices of minoritised students in relation to the issue are absent.

This research utilised qualitative focus groups and interviews with 38 minoritised students from two universities in England. Most are female (n=23) and ages range from 18 years – 44 years. Using vignettes, interviews explored help-seeking behaviours in relation to sexual violence and considered intersections with minoritised identities.

Thematic analysis suggests that sexual violence is normalised within universities and underpinned by ‘community knowledges’ about what students believe their university ‘is like’. This can lead to, for example, students having both a lack of information and a lack of accurate information about what their university provides. Structural vulnerabilities and minoritisation further impact perceptions of ‘who’ and ‘what’ counts in relation to sexual violence. In this gap of knowledge about formal/university help provision, we found that students rely heavily on their informal networks in relation to decision-making about help-seeking. Overall, structural vulnerabilities experienced by minoritised students hindered their willingness to report. Intersectional recommendations for university action and policy are offered.

Please direct all queries to the organiser: maeve-admin@unimelb.edu.au.