Addressing Sexual Violence in Polish Higher Education: Final Results of a Nationwide Survey

A 2018 report by the Polish Ombudsman reveals that more than 31% of students have experienced at least one sexual harassment behavior since starting college. It is an example of gender based violence, where the majority of victims are women.

The present research was conducted using a quantitative method to collect data on sexual violence from university students and a qualitative method in the form of semi-structured interviews with university staff and analysis from a feminist theory perspective.

Poland, at least officially, boasts universal gender equality and low rates of gender-based violence. In reality, inequalities are significant and acts of violence go unreported. Despite apparent legal and moral modernisation, the state does not act to expand disciplinary power to effectively punish perpetrators of sexual violence - it uses outdated categories, if compared to dominant Western discourses and international law regulations, many acts do not come within the scope of sexual violence as understood by the legislator. Moreover, the government does not recognise the existence of individuals that do not fit into a binary division, as a result of which it becomes almost impossible to conduct legal research using gender/queer categories - which is a major limitation of our research.

The research focused on many specific aspects of the problem of sexual violence. The study identified not only the main profile of the perpetrator, but also of the victim. In addition, the relationship between intra-university procedures, including disciplinary procedures, and criminal proceedings was explored, as national law does not clearly regulate this issue. The most important findings are respondents' opinions on the possible reasons why students do not report incidents of sexual violence to university authorities and the role of preventive measures.