Violence Against Women

Hollaback! Finds Sexual Harassment Prevalent on College Campuses

Hollaback!, a movement to end street harassment, recently released data it collected on street harassment on college campuses. Hollaback! surveyed 282 undergraduate, graduate and part-time college students and 44 college administrators on campuses from various regions of the US to find out how harassment exists in spaces of higher education.

via Shutterstock
via Shutterstock

Hollaback! found that 67 percent of students had experienced harassment on campus – which can include“unwanted and unwelcome sexual behavior that significantly interferes with a student’s access to educational opportunities” – and that harassment was harming students’ ability to learn. Twenty percent said harassment caused an inability to concentrate in class, and 23 percent said harassment prevented them from attending class or social activities.

College systems to report and address harassment were also deemed insufficient by 55 percent of college administrators surveyed. Only 17 percent of students said that they reported harassment to a person of authority.

The Supreme Court has confirmed that schools are required under Title IX to prevent and address harassment against students. While some universities, like the University of Maryland, are working towards making campuses safer spaces for women, others are facing criticism and lawsuits for mishandling cases.

Media Resources: Hollaback! 2013; TitleIX.info; Feminist Newswire 5/24/13, 7/8/13, 7/23/13, 8/2/13, 10/11/13

This post was originally published on the Feminist Newswire. If you’d like, you can subscribe to the Feminist News digest for a weekly recap of our newswire stories.

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