Graduate Students are Making a Big Fuss: Responding to Institutional Betrayal Around Campus Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment
Bloom, BE (通讯作者),San Diego State Univ, Grad Sch Publ Hlth, San Diego, CA 92182 USA.
Research on sexual violence and sexual harassment (SVSH) in academia has grown since the 1980s; however, the needs of graduate student survivors have received comparably little attention, which contributes to forms of institutional betrayal that specifically impact graduate students. As part of a multi-campus study on experiences of SVSH and campus resources, graduate student researchers conducted in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with 43 fellow graduate students. Using thematic analysis, we identify three mechanisms that lead to graduate students' feelings of institutional betrayal: passing the harasser; shifting responsibilities for SVSH-related prevention and response onto graduate students; and inadequate resources for preventing and responding to SVSH. Building on combined analytical frameworks, the Socio-Ecological Model and Whole School Approach, we offer student-centered and evidence-based multi-level imperatives for combatting graduate student SVSH and reducing institutional betrayal. Finally, we share a flowchart we designed to model how individuals can respond to SVSH within university settings.