Universities in the Global North have ¡°a lot to learn¡± from the work being done in the Global South to tackle gender-based violence, a conference has heard.

Speaking at the British Council¡¯s Going Global conference, Adrija Dey, lecturer in digital media at the University of Sussex, expressed concern that some people felt that high levels of sexual harassment and misconduct were ¡°particularly a Global South problem¡±. She added that throughout her career she had come across people who said, ¡°You¡¯re so lucky that you live in London as it doesn¡¯t happen here.¡±

However, Dr Dey, who is director of international knowledge exchange at The 1752 Group, which challenges sexual violence in ÖйúAƬ, said it was a global issue. ¡°I¡¯m by no means trying to romanticise it by saying that everything is great in those [Southern] contexts, but the Global North has a lot to learn from the work that has been done by activists, by survivors, by organisations and feminist collectives in the Global South,¡± she said.

Dr Dey highlighted the move by India¡¯s University Grants Commission to ask universities to establish committees to develop guidelines for combating sexual violence. Good examples of this include a committee set up in one institution independently investigating harassment cases, supporting victims and connecting them to lawyers if they wanted to pursue their case through the criminal justice system.

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Also speaking at the session, Helen Mott, a research consultant in gender equality and women¡¯s rights, pointed to work done by Cairo University, which set up a unit to tackle violence against women. This offers training for first responders and in case management, policy and bystander intervention.

¡°There been some really good and creative initiatives and responses to this issue around the world,¡± she said.

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She also highlighted a group of institutions in East Africa that have decided to ¡°address issues of gender inequality holistically: from the content of teaching and learning materials, to the design of the learning spaces, gender equality and empowerment runs through every aspect of the programme¡±.

The problem, Dr Mott said, was that across the world there has often been ¡°an unwillingness to confront¡± the high levels of violence against women in ÖйúAƬ. ¡°People might be forgiven for thinking that there may be something about ÖйúAƬ institutions that would mitigate against it but, unfortunately, this is far from being the case,¡± she said.

In fact, there were a range of factors, such as the average age of people in ÖйúAƬ institutions and the presence of strong hierarchical relationships within those communities, that made universities places where it is ¡°likely to proliferate, without strong measures to prevent it¡±.

anna.mckie@timeshighereducation.com