The Role of Social Movements in Overcoming Gender Violence in Higher Education

• In Event: 474 - Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 08. Institutions, Opportunities, and Change

Abstract

Gender violence in universities is a major social problem, especially researched in the United States. In that context, institutional measures and legislations have been made as a result of social pressure and research. In Spain, this problem has only recently been uncovered with pioneer research (Valls, 2005-2008). Social movements have a major influence in obtaining improvements in society. Nevertheless, the role of social movements in contributing to gender violence prevention has been under explored. This paper analyzes the role of students’ movements to tackle gender violence within universities, analyzing the case of Spanish academia. The communicative methodology is implemented, conducting communicative daily life stories and in-depth interviews with victims, faculty and institutional representatives committed to the struggle against gender violence in universities. The contributions of the first bottom-up initiative of survivors of gender violence in Spanish academia to tackle this problem is explored. Findings show that the mobilization of victims and those who support them has a major impact on raising awareness of the problem of gender violence in Spanish academia and on challenging the university structures. It attends the need for peer support that the institution is failing to provide and empowers the victims. Thus, the paper evidences that research in social movements can provide insight into the success of students’ movements to contribute to the overcoming of gender violence in universities. This is especially valuable for the context of US colleges where student mobilizations are prominent since the 1970s.

Authors

• Tinka Tabea Schubert

• Ana Vidu-Afloarei, University of Barcelona