Institutional changes

In the first place it is important to highlight that, as mentioned previously, research has directly contributed to the implementation of institutional measures through the Law for the Effective Equality Between Women and Men (2007) which mandates universities to create equality units that, among other tasks, account for the prevention and resolution of gender violence. Whereas in some universities, institutional resistances to implement these measures are strong, in other cases initiatives to establish the equality units are supported by the institution. Pedro, a representative of different institutional bodies, explains the initial steps to the creation of the equality unit.

to establish the equality unit and make it visible and there was support for that. We created it, I guess because of a letter of the rector that equality units should be established and we built a team to work on it and we included faculty, service and administration staff and students, and the support was huge. (Pedro,

institutional representative)

According to the information provided at the Social Impact Open Repository (VAW_U, 2015), so far sixteen universities in Spain have elaborated and approved a protocol regarding the resolution and prevention of sexual harassment. However, and as highlighted in previous sections, institutional resistances oftentimes are not against the measures but against applying them and resolving cases of gender violence that imply taking a stand against a person holding power positions. In this sense, Pedro emphasizes the importance not only of the existence of formal mechanisms but of making these measures work which implies an honest commitment by the people being part of the equality units.

the interesting thing of these measures is that they fulfill their functions, that they mobilize the university community, that there is a rotation of the people who participate, that they worry about people and support them, that they are at the service of the people, to put pressure on the institution so that these issues are

not forgotten. Therefore, it is not enough for the equality unit to exist, but to see how it can be promoted. (Pedro, institutional representative)

Nevertheless it is worthy to emphasize that these changes to the feudal structure in the Spanish higher education are imposed by the government, rather than changes emerging from the institutions. According to Isabel, one of the professors struggling against gender violence in universities, this was exactly the strategy taken to initiate the institutional changes. She explains that in front of enormous institutional resistances, it was necessary to reach out for support from outside the university community to pressure institutions to implement changes.

to report and make it visible, not to be afraid, break the silence, well also the context made it possible to change, there is a law that we had been working on. The law doesn’t come from nowhere. What we did was if the university is not going to change let’s reach out to outside the university so that the university is forced to change. And once this happens we change from the inside (Isabel,

faculty)

In a similar vein, more changes have been introduced to the Spanish academia that are linked to the dialogic turn in societies that institute more democratic structures in the diverse spheres of social life as well as in the private ones. This would also be in line with the changing environments in international contexts, such as in the 60s and 70s in the US and the Women’s Liberation Movement (Bird, 2002). In relation to this changing model of the university, Susana, a supportive professor, argues that gender violence can no longer be sustained in this new and more democratic model of universities.

these kind of issues cannot be upheld, not in the university of the 21st century and neither in a democratic university. It is also related to the model of university that we defend. (Susana, faculty)

One of the crucial elements of a democratic university is the system of meritocracy rather than feudalism, which has so far prevailed in the Spanish higher education (Bird, 2002). Hence, the relations among the university community and especially among the faculty are changing, since the decisions about positions and vacancies are no longer only determined by those who hold a power position, but increasingly objective criteria to hiring on the basis of the academic profile are determining the access to Spanish

academia. This change implies a shift in power relations among the university community affecting mainly those who previously were holding power positions. As Luisa highlights, younger generations to enter the university community benefit from these changes.

possibilities for change are those of people who just enter the university who experience more, I don’t mean that before they were no victims, but they see it like ‘I am here because of my merit I don’t have to put up with certain issues’ and I think these new people who enter the university, which is not an issue of age but the new way of entering the university, less feudalist, things are changing and also the perspective… well we are also vulnerable but this is something good the fact of passing from a feudal university to the fact that people have to get accreditations, that there are other ways of entering the university apart from being a favorite of the full professor in charge. (Luisa, faculty)

Although these changes are slow and power relations are still predominant, the tendency is that of change. In this vein, those who struggle against the power structures and follow the criteria of international research standards, at last are those who succeed in the academia. Joan, one of the supportive professors who had been second order victim, is confirmed in his actions when he is evaluated as the person with best qualifications for a post-doctoral position. Unfortunately, in this case, power structures were still strong enough to give the position to another person.

I was lucky, because I applied for a Post-doc and I was the first on the list, this gave me a lot of strength because it evidences that if you do things right and with rigor and ethics at the end it is what is valued. (Joan, faculty)

Further changes that can be observed in the institution are the initiatives taken by some representatives of the equality units to improve these bodies to better comply with the functions they have. In this sense, Paula, one of the directors of the equality unit at the school, explains that the university has been applying for a project to provide training in gender violence to the students.

an application to organize a course on gender violence, the application is to a project funded by the city hall to provide training on gender violence to the students. (Paula, institutional representative)

Another example of change inside the institution is related to the commitment and support given by institutional representatives. In order to contribute to the prevention of gender violence in Spanish higher education, a clear commitment by those who represent the institution in terms of the handling of these cases is necessary. Sara, one of the former members of the equality unit at her school explains the commitment that the equality unit had initially in front of a case of sexual harassment by a professor. They committed to resign from the equality unit if no action was taken by the institution to resolve this case. Unfortunately, the unit bent to the power relations and decided not to resign from their position, despite the inaction and barriers to resolve the case that the institution showed. It is still worthy to mention that conviction to make progress exists and an environment that enhances these convictions rather than converting them in reinforcers of the status quo, as Thorne-Finch (1992) would say, is needed.

the commission when this case started said, well the members of the commission said ‘If no measures are taken we are going to quit’. There was a commitment that this was important. (Sara, institutional representative)

In this line, Paula insists on the importance of commitment and effort and not to bend to institutional pressures in order to resolve cases of gender violence at the university which is necessary on a daily basis in order to contribute to overcoming gender violence. But you can also see specific cases, such as the equality units from some schools, where severe cases were investigated and where some people took charge of resolving cases in a very diligent manner. So you can see both sides of the coin; the disaster on the one hand and the commitment and effort without any institutional support and sometimes even barriers. (…) I think that imposing things with laws is of relative use, on the other hand, actions taken in the daily life of doing things and provide ideas this is what helps. (Paula, institutional

representative)

Last but not least, some of the institutional representatives emphasize their duty to help the victim. Begoña, the former director of the equality unit at her institution, perceives this duty as a matter of justice that is above any other value that could prevail in university and Pedro, a representative of diverse institutional bodies, considers that academic power should be used in favor of the victim rather than for personal interests.

It’s a question of justice, if there is a person who is suffering, my duty is to do my job. I won’t prejudge the man, but I will try to resolve [the issue]. (Begoña,

institutional representative)

I think the academic power should be at the service of these causes. (Pedro,

institutional representative)

But more importantly, this is what students expect and should be able to expect from the university institution. Gemma, one of the victims brave enough to report the sexual harassment she received by a professor, explains that the institutional representatives tried to make her feel guilty for what had happened and also for the impossibility of the institution to take action. However, she together with other victims was strong enough to face the institutional representatives and tell them that the actions they had been taking and were taking are not adequate to address this problem. Rather she expected them to take a stand in favor of the victims and against sexual harassment, no matter the consequences that facing powerful people implies.

in that moment we were the guilty ones of the fact that the negotiations [with the aggressor to quit harassing] didn’t continue, because they always said ‘No! the negotiations, the negotiations’ but you mustn’t negotiate with these kind of people you have to take a stand no matter what you go ahead and if they file a report due to the law of state servants you have to take the consequences. But you must show an impeccable behavior. I think they didn't have courage in that moment or understanding. (Gemma, victim)

The elements highlighted evidence the progress that has been made since the pioneer research was started in 2005 and the present. It is striking that in few years of time, legal changes have taken place paving the way for overcoming gender violence in Spanish universities. Yet, further actions are necessary to transform legislation into institutional practices. The evidences provided here illustrate that there are very committed people who dare to bring these issues forward and do not step back in the light of retaliations or second order harassment but rather do everything in their power to fight against the predominant structures. One element that is still missing and that has been highlighted in the scientific literature are the complementary external organisms that guarantee the

functioning of the Spanish higher education services concerning gender violence prevention (Cantalupo, 2012; McMahon, 2008).