Sexual harassment in the university: The students’ vision

Abstract

Introduction/objective: Sexual harassment is one of the types of violence that should most concern the educational community, consequently, the objective of this study is to analyze the knowledge, perceptions and attitudes of university students towards sexual harassment. Method: From a qualitative approach, ten individual interviews were carried out with students (six female students and four male students) and eight heterogeneous discussion groups made up of 67 students. All of them belong to a public university located in the northwest of Spain. Results: The students have little knowledge about sexual harassment and, in addition, they do not receive training that gives them the tools that allow them to identify and combat it. Likewise, most of the participants express that sexual harassment is common in the academic environment, but that it is invisible. Through their own words, it is identified that they perceive permissive attitudes towards sexual harassment on the part of teachers and the university, considering that there is no real implication to intervene in harassment situations. Conclusions: It is necessary for the university to commit to implement prevention and intervention strategies, in order to identify, punish and eradicate each and every one of the forms of violence, including sexual harassment.