United States and English University Responses to Student Disclosures of Sexual Violence

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Sexual violence in US and English universities remains a significant issue, as 20-25% of female higher education students will experience sexual violence before finishing their undergraduate studies. Despite these high rates of victimisation, scholarship on university responses to sexual violence remains limited. What scholarship does exist, however, indicates that institutional-including university-responses to sexual violence reports can often be retraumatising to survivors; it is therefore vital to study such responses to not only further scholarly inquiry, but also improve support for survivors. My doctoral thesis contributes to our understanding of institutional responses by comparing how a selection of 10 universities in the United States and England respond to student disclosures of sexual violence. Although the US and England have similar student populations and victimisation rates, their response models for sexual violence in universities differ significantly: The US has a national legalistic, often punitive framework through Title IX, while England encourages individual responses following Universities UK's Changing the Culture report guidance. I analysed these different response models at three levels: the structural level through policy discourse analysis of the 2011 Dear Colleague Letter Title IX guidance in the US and the 2016 Universities UK Changing the Culture report; the institutional level through in-depth, 1-2-hour-long interviews with 26 staff members (e.g. wellbeing advisors, policy leads, student discipline managers) across 10 universities throughout the US and England; and the subjective level of lived experience through interviews with 19 student survivors across the two countries. By examining national, institutional, and personal levels of this issue, I was able to make connections between national policy and the emotional responses of those trying to report sexual violence in universities.My thesis argues that US and English universities respond to student disclosures of sexual violence by prioritising university reputation over student survivor wellbeing, which reflects the neoliberal policy agenda in which they operate. While mainstream narratives position such retraumatising responses as the result of universities failing to comply with policies, my thesis demonstrates that retraumatising responses for survivors are genuinely compliant with national policy guidance, and suggests that the current response frameworks themselves are untenable. Most universities in my sample were complying with national guidance, yet that compliance did not prevent further harming survivors. In fact, the universities often presented in a positive light because they accomplished policy recommendations are the same universities that are traumatising survivors through those very processes. This Fellowship will enable me to publish and disseminate this research that will not only further scholarly understanding of this urgent issue, but also improve institutional responses for survivors. Through 3 peer-reviewed articles, I will publish my findings that challenge existing understandings of institutional power dynamics; I will also submit a proposal for a sole-authored manuscript along with a sample chapter. In order to strengthen my research network, I will organise a day-long research symposium featuring the leading scholars of sexual violence in universities. I will also organise 2 knowledge exchange workshops with university response staff that will lead to a public-facing report with recommendations to improve responses for survivors. Lastly, this Fellowship will create the groundwork for a research career as I will submit a proposal for a 3-year Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship. Successful completion of these aims will position me as an emerging scholar with much to contribute to knowledge and practice around sexual violence in institutions.