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Experiences and perceptions of sexual violence in a UK university: results from the second iteration of the OUR SPACE survey
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DOI：10.1080/03075079.2026.2693160.png)
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Abstract
En 中文
Sexual violence is a critical issue within higher education and governments and regulators globally are increasingly mandating institutions to prevent and respond to the problem. Yet, limited institutional-level evidence in the UK links students’ experiences of victimisation with their perceptions of institutional responses to sexual misconduct. Analysing data from an online survey administered to all enrolled students at a UK higher education institution in 2024, this study estimates the prevalence and nature of sexual harassment and sexual assault, respondents’ feelings of safety, and their perceptions of institutional handling of sexual misconduct. All administered measures were adapted from the ARC3 campus climate survey and SES-SFV instruments. We found high levels of past-year victimisation, with women experiencing substantially higher rates of sexual assault and sexual harassment than men. Perpetrators were predominantly men and most often fellow students, and reported incidents frequently occurred on university premises. Respondents who had experienced sexual violence expressed more negative perceptions of their institution’s response to sexual violence, highlighting a significant relationship between victimisation and perceptions of institutional responses to sexual misconduct. Interpreting these findings through frameworks of institutional betrayal, we argue that universities must move beyond compliance to address the cultural and structural conditions that enable sexual violence.
Keywords:
Sexual violence
sexual harassment
gender
higher education
institutional responses
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