Sexual Harassment in Pakistani Academia

Sociocultural Construction of Experience

Bibliographic Data

ID21638620
AuthorsRizwana Yousaf (0000-0002-2469-169X, Department of History and Social sciences, The Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany, corresponding author)
Year2025
Publication date2025-10-09
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Family Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1066-4807 • E-ISSN: 1552-3950
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/10664807251360784
OpenAlexW4415015030
LanguageEN
References cited42

Sexual harassment (SH) is a widespread issue across the globe and an everyday crisis for working women. This paper draws on fourteen semi-structured interviews with heads of departments, deans, and directors of institutions/schools in higher education institutions (HEIs) to gain insights into the sociocultural contextualization of narratives to gender-based violence and harassment. The analysis suggests that the most significant explanation of SH in HEIs is the acceptance of its inevitability in public spaces and workplaces, including HEIs, though often accompanied by assertions of higher prevalence in other departments or institutions. Women, often positioned as gatekeepers of men's sexual advances, frequently endure victim-blaming. Furthermore, the persistence of SH in HEIs is attributed to the ineffective implementation and utilization of harassment laws

Contextualization · Globe · Harassment · Higher education · Narrative · Sociocultural evolution · Gender Diversity and Inequality · Gender, Security, and Conflict · Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies

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