Sexual violence at universities : from survey to evidence - based policy change

Abstract

The paper aims to present so far results of the on going project Sexual violence at the universities in Serbia: Raising awareness and developing innovative mechanisms of victim support, implemented by Victimology Society of Serbia. The project consists of two parts: 1. Review of so far survey findings worldwide and conducting of victimisation survey in Serbia aimed at gathering data on the extent and forms of sexual violence against students as well as existing university policies and victim support; 2. Evidence-based intervention aimed at building capacity of university staff for proper response to sexual violence against students, strengthening existing policies and practices at the universities related to sexual violence, and establishing cooperation among universities and victim support services in order to secure timely support for victims. Victimisation survey was conducted online from March to May 2021 on a sample of 1597 students from four university centers in Serbia. Main findings of previous surveys conducted worldwide, as well as methodology, challenges in conducting the survey during pandemic and preliminary findings of the survey in Serbia will be presented. The focus will be on findings about prevalence, forms of violence and particularly vulnerable groups of students.