The H2020 UniSAFE project provided strong evidence of the prevalence of gender-based violence across European higher education and research institutions and countries. Nearly 62% of the 42,000 respondents of the project’s survey disclosed having experienced at least one form of gender-based violence in their place of work or study. However, only 7% of students and 23% of staff reported such incidents experienced in their institution, mainly because they did not consider the behaviour serious enough to report, did not recognise the behaviour as violence at the time of the incident or did not think that anything would happen if they reported it.
In recent years, policy attention to gender-based violence in higher education and research has grown, responding to this prevalence, both at the EU level and at the level of responsible national authorities. Despite advances in policy adoption, institutions are however failing in implementation, very little is in place to monitor and evaluate existing policies, and there is a lack of understanding of what constitutes gender-based violence and how to proceed when something happens.
The EU-funded GenderSAFE project supports research and higher education institutions in establishing safe, inclusive and respectful environments by setting up comprehensive policies to effectively counteract gender-based violence. Building on the Zero Tolerance Code of Conduct which outlines the key elements of a zero-tolerance framework for combating gender-based violence, GenderSAFE advances this approach within the European Research Area. By fostering institutional cultures that uphold gender equality and unequivocally reject all forms of gender-based violence, GenderSAFE addresses the full spectrum of unacceptable behaviours, ranging from subtle, less visible instances to explicit acts of violence. For decision-makers, this framework offers practical tools to enforce compliance, foster trust, and encourage a culture where victim-survivors feel supported to come forward.
