Challenging Institutional Resistance

Abstract

Numerous cases of sexual harassment in French higher education institutions led to the creation in 2002 of a student association dedicated to anti-sexist action against sexual harassment in higher education (Collectif de Lutte Anti-Sexiste Contre le Harcèlement Sexuel dans l’Enseignement Supérieur, also known as CLASCHES). More recently, the French minister for higher education introduced a policy requiring universities to take steps to eradicate sexual harassment and commissioned a survey of violence and gender relations in universities. Focusing on one of the universities where the survey was conducted, this chapter presents key findings from the survey and discusses the university’s responses. Although the university governing body set up a Victim Support Unit and organized activities annually to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, it has not used the survey to develop a specific policy but has, in fact, tried to obscure the results. Students criticize the university’s governing body’s discourses for blaming victims and making perpetrators invisible.