TPO Foundation from Sarajevo, in cooperation with the University of Sarajevo, will promote the book on the results of the first regional research on gender-based violence in academic communities, conducted at 18 universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia. Promotion will be held on Monday, 31 October 2022, at 12:00 hrs in the Ceremonial Hall of the Rectorate of the University of Sarajevo.
The research “The Challenges of Mainstreaming Gender Equality in University Communities: Fighting against Gender-Based Violence” was carried out as part of the UNIGEM (University and Gender Mainstreaming) project, which is funded by the Government of the United Kingdom, and which represents a strategic commitment of universities to ensure gender equality and a safe environment for teachers as well as students at universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region. It involved 4,754 respondents from the ranks of teaching and administrative staff, as well as students of social, humanistic, natural, technical, health and other fields. The book was edited by Zilka Spahić Šiljak, PhD, Jasna Kovačević, PhD and Jasmina Husanović, PhD.
The introductory address will be delivered by H.E. Julian Reilly, British Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rifat Škrijelj, PhD, Rector of the University of Sarajevo, Jasna Kovačević, PhD, Head of Gender Equality Council at University of Sarajevo, Enita Nakaš, PhD, the Vice-chancellor for international cooperation of the University of Sarajevo, Marija Lučić-Ćatić, PhD, Faculty of Criminology and Security Studies of the University of Sarajevo, and the moderator will be Miroslav Živanović, MSc, Head of Rector’s Cabinet of the University of Sarajevo.
Some of the key findings of the conducted research are below. 80% of interviewees confirmed direct knowledge of their colleagues having experienced sexual harassment (SH), GBV and/or discrimination, up to 75.8% of teachers in the regional sample report do not know if procedures against perpetrators of gender-based violence (GBV) were initiated at all, 61% of interviewees confirmed they had personal experiences of GBV or SH. Also, it showed that there is no transparent and open communication about GBV at universities.
The book was published in Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin and Serbian languages and will be promoted at all 18 partner institutions of the UNIGEM project until the end of December 2022. On the day of the Sarajevo promotion, at the same time, a promotion will be held at the University of Novi Sad, and it will be also promoted at the International University in Travnik on November 4, 2022, at 11:30 hrs.
