Government report highlights York Education sexual violence and 'lad culture' research
Posted on 26 September 2016
The report by the Women and Equalities Committee exposes the large scale of sexual harassment and sexual violence that is experienced by young people in English schools.
Vanita’s University of York research on sexual harassment and gender-based violence among teenagers was named in the parliamentary report, as well as her more recent work on lad culture in universities. Her written evidence, which was also referenced, argued that university initiatives to tackle 'lad culture' should be informed by research on sexual harassment and violence in schools.
Vanita is involved in on-going work led in the UK by Brunel, Sussex and York universities (and simultaneously taking place at universities in 6 other EU countries), which builds on existing research about sexual violence to inform the development of education programmes for university staff. This work aims to challenge ‘lad culture’ at university level by educating staff about sexual violence, its impact on survivors and developing their skills to respond empathetically and supportively to disclosures made by students.
Read the government report here.