How are we involved as academics? Our (re)awareness of the problem

Stories of sexual harassment of female students by academics (and of sexual relations between academics and students) are not new. But they are all too rarely addressed in academic training, especially in the Global North where universities are increasingly developing global health training programmes and sending more and more students into the field. Compared with domestic students in North America, international students are at higher risk of experiencing sexual violence on campus27 28 and are less likely to seek help if assaulted.28 Academic institutions need to be held accountable for the well-being of the foreign students they host and the domestic students they send abroad.

In recent months, three young women shared with one of us, in informal discussions, their experiences of sexual harassment in the field. One of them met with many actors involved in her subject in the country concerned. She reported that one researcher she was advised to meet was very insistent, on several occasions. And he was not the only one. After a few days of fieldwork and too many insistent requests, she bought and wore a fake wedding ring, pretending to be a married woman to avoid harassment. In 1977, Carol Warren reported using the same strategy in the USA,29 which suggests that this problem is not confined to a particular social context and that this coping strategy is quite common. The other two young women were in direct contact with high-ranking individuals in government and an international financial institution to conduct interviews to obtain data for their research. The insistent demands of these high-ranking individuals for more informal, off-duty and very personal meetings put these two students in a very uncomfortable position, at risk to their integrity and research.

As with sexual violence in universities in the Global North,30–32 victims of harassment and assault abroad are often unable or reluctant to disclose and may wait until the end of their fieldwork, or even graduation, to disclose. They may only disclose to informal sources of support, such as friends and family. In all three cases presented above, even though there had never been any cause for suspicion, the supervisor was indirectly responsible for putting students in contact with colleagues who used their power for sexual harassment. This situation—that is, supervisors themselves being the indirect cause of the event—may further delay disclosure to formal/academic sources of support and limit our ability to act preventively in future placements.

These deeply unsettling cases led us to rethink our role and responsibilities as academics. Of course, we could avoid the issue by arguing to ourselves that the cases are on the boundary between sexual harassment and seduction; that ‘sexuality enacted in the field can be experienced as both threatening and pleasant.’18 The boundary can sometimes be blurred. Some have described how ‘to be a young, female graduate student definitely has advantages in a male-dominated setting.’11 And some academics have claimed that female students harass them to get good grades. However, these cases are likely the exception. But perhaps less of an exception are male students from universities in the Global North who, during global health research field placements, engage in inappropriate and sometimes predatory sexual behaviour.

The consequences of sexual harassment on women's academic careers, health and well-being are now well known, including declines in productivity, higher stress and less funding.33 In a recent survey of 198 global health organisations, including just one university, only 25 had a sexual harassment policy that meets the four best practices according to Global Health 50/50: commitment and definition; confidentiality and non-retaliation; staff training; and reporting and accountability.3 As with other inequalities in global health research partnerships, sexual violence will likely continue ‘for as long as the culture of consciously unknowing what is known continues unchallenged.’8 We are at the heart of a ‘public secret’, a concept well known in public health.34

What can academics and academic institutions Do?

Our actions must be informed by up-to-date prevention guidelines on sexual violence on college/university campuses. But these need to be adapted to address specific issues in academic global health, with programmes for all students and academics (male and female) to address both victimisation and perpetration, and for entire academic communities so that active bystanders can contribute to changing cultural norms and behaviours among peers.5 Such approaches should include: (1) raising awareness; (2) acknowledging barriers to change; and (3) increasing action through skills practice. But until such a prevention package is adapted and implemented, what can academics and academic institutions do? We propose the following:

1. Immediately sanction perpetrators according to policy guidelines. Although it is difficult for universities to sanction international research partners who are not under their jurisdiction, one sanction for violating the policy would be to cease collaboration.

2. Adopt a comprehensive sexual harassment and violence policy globally, spearheaded by schools of global (public) health in the Global North. Accreditations given by the Council on Education for Public Health in North America and the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region should add the presence of these policies as an evaluation criterion. These policies should be shared with universities and funding agencies, who are in a good position to raise researchers’ awareness about sexual violence and require adherence to sexual violence prevention policies in funded research. They should clearly state what constitutes sexual violence, including harassment. They should also refer to a code of conduct between faculty/researchers/supervisors and students, guidelines for reporting and a clear set of sanctions for violating the policies. Global South partners should be made aware of the policies, agree to adhere to them for continued partnership and be held responsible for the conduct of their employees and collaborators. The policies must be systematically included in the guides to good practice for scientific partnerships in global health and be disseminated to all academics, for example, through a massive open online course.

3. Stop participating in the culture of sexual harassment. This means intervening with our harassing colleagues when we are made aware of such situations, rather than solely advising young women on how to ‘manage’ them (eg, ‘wear a wedding ring’, ‘don’t meet him alone’, and so on). Upstream, academics should be more aware of the situation by serving as mentors and by systematically discussing the issue during classes and before students leave for the field.35 36 Academics referring students to their colleagues should have a responsibility to act when made aware of sexual violence on their part by following policy procedures and enforcing sanctions. Academics also must be trained in how to receive disclosures and to support students who have been harassed or assaulted. Such training should be survivor centric, increase policy and service awareness and reduce victim blaming. This, in turn, would increase confidence in institutional responses and encourage disclosures. Confident listening spaces should exist, both before and during fieldwork, to discuss and suggest possible solutions. The scientific literature on challenges facing young women doing research in a male-dominated field should be mobilised for training purposes.16 18 29 37 38 It is also important to make available in the field mentors trained in harassment management to support anyone (women and men) involved in these situations and help them find appropriate solutions, or at least talk about them.

4. Fund and implement sexual harassment and assault resistance training for students as part of an integrated sexual violence prevention strategy based on the best available evidence.5 Evidence-based programmes exist to help students become more active bystanders39 and better resist sexual violence,40 41 as well as programmes that show promise for reducing male students’ perpetration of sexual violence.42 If ‘the female researcher cannot prepare for all eventualities, … at least she can enter the setting with some idea of how she might respond to sexist remarks, sexist behavior, and sexual hustling.’11 For example, the Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act programme has resulted in an annual victimisation reduction of up to 63% in five forms of sexual violence experienced by female students in Canada.40 A working group should be set up to determine whether this programme can be specifically adapted for global health research, tested and evaluated.