Uprkos strahu i tišini: univerziteti protiv rodno zasnovanog nasilja
Despite Fear and Silence: Universities Against Gender-Based Violence

Contributor(s): Zilka Spahić Šiljak (Editor), Jasna Kovačević (Editor), Jasmina Husanović (Editor)
Subject(s): Gender Studies, Media studies, Criminal Law, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Communication studies, Higher Education , Studies in violence and power, Health and medicine and law, ICT Information and Communications Technologies, Sociology of Education
Published by: Transkulturna Psihosocijalna Obrazovna Fondacija (TPO Foundation)
Keywords: higher education; gender; violence; fear; silence; conference proceedings; UNIGEM; media; human rights;
Summary/Abstract: This publication contains the proceedings of the international scientific conference "Beyond Fear and Silence: Universities Against Violence" which was held on the 6th and 7th of May 2022 at the University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The conference aims and calls for papers were envisaged within the framework of the UNIGEM (Universities and Gender Mainstreaming) project led by the TPO Foundation in collaboration with 19 partner universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro. In addition to the TPO Foundation and the University of Sarajevo as the main organisers of the conference, the following 12 universities were the conference co-organizers: University of Banja Luka, University of Bihać, University of Donja Gorica, University of East Sarajevo, University of Herzegovina, University of Mostar, University "Džemal Bijedić", University of Novi Sad, University of Tuzla, University of Zagreb, University of Zenica, and International University in Travnik. The conference aim was to aid changes towards the transformation of university environments into safe places for everyone, where zero tolerance for violence is promoted. Most universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region adopted gender action plans (GAPs) in the academic year 2021/2022 and there is serious work ahead of them to change the organizational culture and the deadlocks of silence and fear when it comes to gender-based violence. A large number of teaching and administrative staff and students still know very little about gender equality and gender-based violence (Spahić Šiljak, Kovačević and Husanović, eds., 2022). Scholars from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Austria and United Kingdom took part in the Sarajevo conference to present the results of their theoretical reflections and empirical research on issues of gender-based violence in universities and to act together towards a more long-term transnational and transdisciplinary scientific and institutional collaboration. The collection of 22 scientific papers presented at this conference and contained in this conference proceedings publication are structured into eight thematic sections, beginning with the plenary keynote lectures. These sections cover the following topics: theoretical perspectives and methodological concerns in researching gender issues; gender and language; gender stereotypes in culture and education; media, education and gender-based violence; gender, body and violence; sexual harassment in academic environment; and gender equality, institutional policies and professional life. Gender-based violence is a global problem and affects the lives of women and men, their health, career, functionality, and psychological and economic well-being. Silence is interpreted as a sign of approval and acceptance and often it is as difficult to bear the silence of the environment that does not react to the violence as it is to experience the violence itself. For these reasons we must collectively address such issues in the educational programs of schools and universities, in our institutional environments where various forms of gender-based violence also occur. Perpetrators of violence are most often not reported and sanctioned, which is a message to victims that there is no benefit from reporting. In order to change this situation, it is necessary, among other things, to work more intensively on the application of legal norms through gender-aware policies, educational programs, campaigns, as well as the production of critical knowledge on the issues of gender equality and gender-based violence. This conference proceedings is a step in this direction – producing transdisciplinary and transnational knowledge of critical importance for the prevention of gender-based violence and discrimination, and the promotion of gender equality.

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