Sexual Harassment in Turkish Academia Through the Lens of Gendered Academic Citizenship

Abstract

This chapter brings attention to a key issue influencing gendered academic citizenship, namely sexual harassment. The chapter examines the phenomenon of sexual harassment and recent institutional responses to the problem in the increasingly conservative Turkish academic context. The chapter conceptualizes sexual harassment as an attack on bodily integrity and consequently as a potential impairment of women's recognition and belonging within the academic community. In this framework, bodily integrity and control over one's body is conceptualized as a key but under-researched dimension of academic citizenship. The chapter identifies three key factors leading to sexual harassment (conservatism and sexism; hegemonic masculinity and heteronormativity; and ambiguous perceptions about sexual harassment), discussing their interrelationships and the ways they threaten gender equal academic citizenship.