International Conference “Despite Fear and Silence: Universities Against Violence”

The International Conference “Despite Fear and Silence: Universities Against Violence,” held on 6 and 7 May 2022 at the University of Sarajevo Rectorate, was officially opened today and brought together Bosnian, regional and international scientists researching gender issues in areas of higher education. This is the first conference of the project “Introduction of gender mainstreaming in higher education” (University and Gender Mainstreaming - UNIGEM).

The conference was opened by the Rector, Prof. Dr. Rifat Škrijelj, Prof. Dr. Zilka Spahić Šiljak, Director of the TPO Foundation and His Excellency Matthew Field, British Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Rector Škrijelj pointed out that the fight against gender-based violence is a generational project of essential importance, not only for the higher education sector, but also for the BiH society as a whole.

“International Scientific Conference Despite Fear and Silence: Universities Against Violence, whose work begins today, is the culmination of the first phase of the UNIGEM project. Over the next two days, more than 30 exhibitors from the country and abroad will offer their views on current issues in the field of gender studies, and their works will be published later in the thematic collection. What is especially gratifying is the fact that in academic circles, but also outside them, there is great interest in these topics. Let's hope that this gathering will additionally encourage and motivate young researchers, but also all those who want to give their contribution in the fight against violence and inequality, “said Rector Škrijelj.

TPO Foundation Director and Chair of the Conference, Prof. Dr. Zilka Spahić Šiljak reminds that gender-based violence affects both women and men. In order to understand the roots and adequately prevent various forms of gender-based violence, it is important, as he says, to open a space in the academic community to question these topics.

“The research we conducted, which will be published soon, showed that there are fears of reporting violence and that there is great silence due to distrust in both society and the system. Then, those who survive any form of gender-based violence are left to fend for themselves or eventually entrusted to those closest to them. The goal is to break the fears and silence, talk openly about it and that the victims should not feel shame or embarrassment, but the perpetrators,” said Professor Spahić Šiljak.

British Ambassador to BiH H.E. Matthew Field emphasizes that gender equality and the fight against all forms of violence against women and girls are extremely important to the UK Government.

“The British Embassy is working hard to promote gender equality in BiH. We all need to understand that gender-based violence, sexual violence and abuse can happen anywhere, in any country,” he said. According to him, the United Kingdom works with the TPO Foundation because they believe that educational institutions must work together and carefully monitor the way they identify and respond to sexual violence. All educational institutions must be a safe, equal and inclusive space for students, but also teaching staff. The UNIGEM project, which is funded by the Government of the United Kingdom, is an excellent step to make it a reality, and is being implemented throughout BiH, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro,” said Ambassador Field.

Prof. Dr. Jasna Kovačević, President and Coordinator of the Gender Equality Council of the University of Sarajevo, pointed out that this conference represents a significant step forward, especially when we talk about the issue of gender discrimination and gender-based violence. “This conference talks about how and in what way to address the issue of gender-based violence, discrimination, but at the same time we are trying to find answers to the question of how to make institutional cultures more resistant to such phenomena as violence, such as scientific work and professional work.” unacceptable patterns of behavior “, stressed Professor Kovačević, and added:” I hope that this conference will give the initial impetus to keep this topic as long as possible in public discourse, in our educational institutions, which should be a beacon of every society and should by their example to show how and in what way we should fight for social justice and the establishment of a fairer society “.

During the two conference days, 33 works by authors from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia and Austria and the United Kingdom will be presented, and the topics to be discussed are: violence as a feminist problem - production knowledge of sexual and gender-based violence; gender-sensitive language, its use and language inequality; gender-based violence, instrumentalization of the female body; gender stereotypes at the university, nastacontent on gender-based violence, the relationship between gender stereotypes and religion; modern theoretical and methodological approaches in gender research, gender-based violence, the study of equality at universities and in university curricula.

There will also be presentations on: combating the sexual misconduct of higher education teachers in the United Kingdom; online harassment and cyber violence in higher education, media coverage of gender-based violence, mental health and gender-based violence, mechanisms to prevent and protect sexual harassment committed through information and communication technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sexual harassment in the academic environment is the topic of one of the panels, which will present data from individual faculties in BiH, Croatia and Serbia. There will be innovations in the fight against sexual harassment in higher education, and the response of institutional policies to gender discrimination in universities, as well as inequality of women in employment and career development, representation of women in artificial intelligence research, and gender relations, university management and institutional culture. The conference ends with a lecture on the relationship between epistemic and gender-based violence at the university, their intersection and contradictions.

The aim of the conference is to encourage and develop studies on gender equality policies in order to work on the prevention of gender-based violence in academia, with a focus on the Balkans and comparative examples at the international level.

The conference is organized by the TPO Foundation and the University of Sarajevo (UNSA), in cooperation with the co-organizers: International University of Travnik (IUT), University of Herzegovina (SVEHER), University of Mostar (SVEMO), University of Zagreb (UNIZG), University of Banja Luka (UNBL), University of Bihać (UNBI), University of Montenegro (UCG), University of Donja Gorica (UDG), Džemal Bijedić University in Mostar (UNMO), University of East Sarajevo (UES), University of Novi Sad (UNS) ) and the University of Zenica (UNZE).

The project “Introduction of gender mainstreaming in higher education - UNIGEM” is supported by the Government of the United Kingdom.