Sexual harassment in academia: victim-survivors speaking out, the politics of naming, and (lack of) institutional accountability : WestminsterResearch

Title	Sexual harassment in academia: victim-survivors speaking out, the politics of naming, and (lack of) institutional accountability
Type	Journal article
Authors	Dey, A.
Abstract	Following movements like #MeToo, #RUReferenceList, and #NiUnaMenos, university students and staff shared their experiences of harassment and abuse within academia on social media. However, despite calls to “break the silence,” victim-survivors frequently face institutional retaliation and backlash from people responsible for harm. Naming nevertheless remains an important part of the accountability and healing processes for some victim-survivors. Additionally, in the absence of larger accountability and victim-survivor-centred reporting processes, some academics and activists have also called for university-handled lists naming people with upheld findings within universities similar to sex offender registries. In this commentary piece based on discussions between Joel Quirk and Judith Levine in a March 2024 webinar, we analyse the politics of naming those responsible for sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), including questions such as who should name, when should naming occur, and what kind of justice do we seek. This piece highlights the complexities of publicly naming those who have engaged in SGBV in universities, particularly through a transformative justice lens, and indicates a lack of institutional avenues for justice and accountability.
Keywords	Sexual violence
	speaking out
	naming
	higher education
	#MeToo
Journal	Feminist Media Studies
ISSN	1468-0777
	1471-5902
Year	2025
Publisher	Taylor & Francis
Accepted author manuscript	RFMS_A_2459117_Approval.pdf
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)	https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2025.2459117

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Sexual harassment in academia: victim-survivors speaking out, the politics of naming, and (lack of) institutional accountability

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