Nanji Nandang
A NEW study which surveyed students and employees at Lund University in Sweden has revealed a prevailing culture of silence surrounding sexual harassment in the institution, mirroring the situation commonly seen on Nigerian campuses.
A study published in November 2024, revealed that at least 63% of female students in Nigerian universities experience sexual harassment from both staff and fellow students and that a culture of silence and underreporting was widespread.
In the Lund University survey co-authored by a Professor of Social Medicine, Per-Olof Östergren, the institution conducted a study by distributing a questionnaire in the institution, collecting responses from nearly 500 employees and over 2,000 students who reported experiencing sexual harassment on campus.
Östergren said the study was motivated by “the emergence of the #MeToo movement.” His research group then decided to contribute by conducting a scientific study on sexual harassment, aiming to create both awareness and a platform for action.
The authors noted that the results “confirmed a culture of silence surrounding sexual harassment in the university setting,” with students being less likely than employees to disclose or formally report incidents.
The Professor told Times Higher Education that the low rate of reporting or disclosure among students who experienced “attempted or completed rape” was particularly concerning.
The study found that fewer than 40% of employees had confided in someone at the university about experiencing sexual harassment, while less than 20% formally reported it.
However, just over 10% among the students disclosed their experience to someone else, and only 4% filed a formal report.
Oga Lecture reports that while gender did not make a significant impact on reporting frequency among either students or employees, age did, the researchers found that employees aged 40 or younger were more likely to report harassment, whereas older students disclosed their experiences “to a considerably higher degree” than younger ones. Additionally, international students were more likely than domestic students to disclose or formally report incidents of harassment.
Östergren suggested that the lower reporting rates among students could be linked to the setting in which the harassment occurred. Previous studies by his research group indicated that most incidents took place at social events rather than within the immediate “study environment.”
The “less clear role of the university regarding students’ social life”, the academics write, could prevent them from reporting. “This is of great concern since sexual harassment in this context could have severe implications for students’ psychosocial study environment at the university.”
“This needs to be discussed by the university management and the representatives of the students, such as the student union,” Östergren said.
In response, a pro vice-chancellor at Lund University, Jimmie Kristensson, said that the institution received early results from the study in 2020.
“We have since taken several measures and are continuously working on these issues,” he said. Kristensson added that the Initiatives included the creation of support teams to advise faculties and students involved in organising social events on sexual harassment.
“We have clarified where to turn to report and have clarified our internal processes in connection with reporting and investigation,” Kristensson added.
Behind the curtains of Nigerian universities
In Nigeria, the report, National Campus Climate Baseline Survey on Sexual Harassment in Nigerian Tertiary Institutionsnational summit on sexual harassment in tertiary education institutions in Abuja on Monday 25 November, paints a similar situation.
The report, which surveyed 3,528 respondents in total, comprising 2,222 students,1,285 staff members and 21 others, found that most cases of sexual harassment went unreported, with many adducing this to the fear of stigmatisation, a skewed power dynamic in student lecturer relationship and inadequate reporting mechanisms, among other reasons.
In May 2024, a number of past female students of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) in a series of viral posts on social media accused a lecturer, Tony Asekhauno, of demanding sexual favours and threatening those who refused his advances with failure.
One X user with the username Chikamma alleged that the lecturer raped her in his office after failing her three times.
Similarly, Oga Lecture reported that some angry students at the Federal University, Lokoja (FUL), Kogi State, stripped naked a senior lecturer of the institution after he was accused of making sexual advances towards a female undergraduate.
According to a report, the lecturer, whose full name has not been disclosed, angered female students from the institution’s English Department, where he teaches, upon learning of his alleged misconduct
They insisted that he must be “publicly disgraced,” claiming that “his cup is full”.
He was stripped to his boxers but was saved from further humiliation by the combined efforts of the school’s security unit at the Adankolo mini campus of the institution.
Oga Lecture also reported the case of a video that surfaced online of a yet-to-be-identified lecturer suspected to be a professor at the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) in Enugu State, who attempted to sexually harass a female student.
In the video, the lecturer was recorded in just his underwear after a botched attempt at having sexual relations with the student.
The voices in the video identified him as a UNN lecturer and Professor of the General Studies (GS) unit of the university.
According to a survey by Oga Lecturer, at least 43 lecturers were accused or indicted for sexual harassment between 2018 and 2023. At least 15 lecturers were accused in 2023, based on media reports tracked by Oga Lecturer.