A quarter of women worldwide aged between 15 and 24 years have been victims of gender-based violence. This violence is more likely to occur in certain contexts, among which the university environment stands out due to the violence that occurs in fraternities, among athletic teams, and at parties, and competitions.
Therefore, based on the need for a multilevel analysis of violence against women and the relevance of the university context to this endeavor, we ask the following questions: What are the main catalysts of violence against young university women in the university context? How do these catalysts manifest at multiple levels, and how do these levels merge to impact violence against young university women? The purpose of this study is to move further in this direction by bringing a multilevel perspective to the discussion of the antecedents of violence against women in higher education settings.
Within the topic of violence against women, there are three main lines of studies on the subject in the university context: one that focused on the figure of the aggressor and the victim, one that focused on groups, and one that focused on the educational institution. Martin (2005, 2016) proposes the path of investigation that we used in this article. The author emphasizes that it is necessary to study multiple levels in the context of violence against women in depth, both theoretically and empirically, so that we can better act against this type of violence.
To answer these questions, we conducted in-depth interviews with young male and female university students and analyzed song lyrics, diaries of male university students, videos, and private institutional documents. This methodological design allowed us to take a broader perspective that was guided by an investigation strategy that involved analyses of the educational institution, groups of students, aggressors, and victims, with the ultimate goal of better understanding and combating violence against women.
Young women who are university students are subjected to various types of violence. We identified that (i) the actions and omissions of the educational institution, (ii) the taste for violence, the perception of self-efficacy, the socioeconomic origin, and the influence of the aggressors’ group of friends, and (iii) the apparent dichotomy between women’s vulnerability and women’s strength are among the main antecedents of violence against women.
Based on a multilevel analysis centered on the institution (macro level), aggressors (micro level), victims (micro level), and social groups (meso level) that interact with them, we identified, through multiple sources of evidence, that the main antecedents of violence against women include (i) the actions and omissions of the educational institution; (ii) the taste for violence, the perception of self-efficacy, the socioeconomic origin, and the influence of friends among the aggressors; and (iii) the apparent dichotomy of vulnerability and strength in women.
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Martin, P.Y. (2005). Rape work: Victims, gender and emotions in organization and community contexts. New York, NY: Routledge.
Martin, P.Y. (2016). The rape prone culture of academic contexts: Fraternities and athletics. Gender & Society, 30(1), 30-43.