“That cost my health”: sexual harassment in higher education based on an analysis of #MeuProfessorAbusador

Abstract

Sexual harassment (SH) includes sexual insinuations, threats, intimidation, physical contact and blackmail associated with patriarchy and power relations. This study analyzed accounts of female university students who experienced SH, focusing on the main characteristics of this type of abuse, individual and collective actions, and health aspects. We conducted a virtual ethnography involving the thematic analysis of the content of 24 accounts of Brazilian women on the Facebook page #MeuProfessorAbusador. The violence perpetrated by teachers consisted of touching and unwanted compliments, suggestive looks, “accidental” kisses, sexist comments, sexual joking and persistent invitations. The women reported feeling threatened and silenced in educational spaces, feeling like giving up the course, and self-blame, and suffered from moral harassment, racial and gender discrimination, and physical and mental illness. The experiences of SH indicate the need for institutional programs to tackle this problem and protect women’s rights.