Keyword

1 Introduction

Sexual harassment (SH) is a significant social offense that has affected businesses around the world (Aina-Pelemo et al., 2021). One major problem with available literature in the contemporary society is that it fails to show any agreement on the definition of the concept and also the forms vary making the consensus on the same impossible. Women found it difficult to complain about sexual harassment or regard it as a serious problem since it even lacked a name as acknowledged by early scholars like Mackinnon & Mackinnon (1979). It is further acknowledged that this term literary remained a taboo in Africa, and therefore, its social definition could not easily be accessed. Sexual harassment has both theoretical (priori) and an empirical definition that attempts to operationalize it making it better to understand. Most definitions in literature are theoretical since they are based on theoretical propositions.

In the workplace, this sexual behavior dehumanizes, degrades, abuses, represses, traumatizes, and harms both male and female employees, young, middle-aged, and elderly. Employers, staff, students, and teachers at all levels are all affected by sexual harassment (Imonikhe et al., 2011; Aina & Kulshrestha, 2018). Many of the offensive sexual advances practices may be carried out through inapt commentaries on an individual’s anatomy, appearance, or sexual actions; sexual remarks; or derogatory or invasive jokes that are all examples of sexual harassment (Campbell et al., 2021). Offensive sexual advances may be practiced in varied forms, including physical, verbal, and nonverbal (Kahsay et al., 2020). When there is inappropriate and improper body contact with the victim, such as an embarrassing touch, kissing, cuddling deeds, and conduct, to sexual behavior, this can be rightly denoted as a physical sexual assault. Sexual harassment in many instances takes the form of utterances, discussions, and the cracking of sexual jokes that make the victim feel insecure and harassed. Offensive sexual advances can therefore be defined as “any physical, verbal or nonverbal conduct of a sexual nature and any other conduct based on sex affecting the dignity of a women and a man, which is unwelcome, unreasonable, and offensive to the recipient” (Rodriguez-Martinez & Cuenca-Piqueras, 2019). 

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (n.d.) defines SH legally as follows:

Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferences with an individual’s work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.

The Office of Civil Rights of the United States Department of Education (1997) distinguishes between two forms of SH in educational establishments: quid pro quo and unfriendly setting SH. What is in it for me? SH entails sexual favors in return for academic input or advantage (e.g., a professor approaching a student for sex in order for the learner to get a better grade). Sexual behavior of any nature that is serious enough to deter a student’s opportunity to engage in and yield from scholarly undertakings (e.g., uploading unsolicited sexual photographs to a classmate’s email address) constitutes a hostile atmosphere SH (Klein & Martin, 2021).

The sexual harassment victim is regularly subjected to subordination by a boss who has a significant impact on the jobs of workers or the career of learners or tutors, depending on the situation (Ejembi et al., 2020). Seductive conduct, racial abuse, sexual bullying, sexual bribery, sexual imposition, and sexual assault are among the varied sexual harassment forms encountered in the university setting, according to Fitzgerald and Ormerod (1991). Because of its detrimental effect on students from all walks of life, the issue of sexual abuse in academia continues to be a subject of concern (Jega, 2013).

In a study of 33 prestigious research universities conducted in 2019, the Association of American Universities revealed that 13% of all learners had encountered sexual assault and 41.8 percent had experienced sexual harassment. According to one of the few meta-analyses statistical research findings on sexual assault in different work settings, academia had 58% prevalence and was second only to the military, which had 69% in terms of sexual harassment (Ilies et al., 2003, p. 622). A faculty member or teacher was responsible for 24 percent of sexual harassment cases experienced by women, while 18.2 percent of cases is experienced by men among graduate and technical students. These findings confirm the existence of SH in institutions of higher learning but do not state exactly what form of sexual harassment is most rampant for women and which one is most rampant for men.

According to a survey, 47.7% of students witnessed SH from matriculation to postgraduate, but the sad reality is that the vast majority of SH and rape cases go unreported (UN Women, 2019). More than half of sexual assault victims in higher education, according to Bondestam and Lundqvist (2020), do not report to the legal authority or management; also noted that 71% of women do not report sexual harassment. The majority of the victims do not report because they worry about how society will view them, and how the reporting will damage their family honor, self-respect, and their overall social image. Other studies found that 89 percent of SH victims did not complain to any legal authorities after sexual assault for fear of social stigma and the desire to preserve their family honor (Foster & Fullagar, 2018; Tyson, 2019; UN Women, 2019). Fear of facing doubts, criticism, and social stigmatization have all been reported in previous studies as reasons for suppressing voices, emotions, and delayed reports against SH (Foster & Fullagar, 2018; Tyson, 2019; Kalra and Bhugra, 2013). This damaging silence by victims is, however, the very reason why SH has been perpetuated in institutions of higher education irrespective of policies within the institutions.

2 Methodology

The reviewer implemented an exploratory revelatory methodology pivoting on an organized, theoretical, normative, and conceptual literature review. Various databases and search engines were utilized to get literature on sexual harassment. Keywords guided the search for literature that guided the study. Some of the keywords and phrases were sexual harassment, institution of higher learning, evolution of sexual harassment, and barriers to curbing sexual harassment.

3 Theoretical Underpinning

3.1 Hegemonic Masculinity Theory

Sexual harassment is linked to sex-based inequality in feminist scholarship, which attaches it to broader outlines of discrimination, power, and privilege (Mackinnon & Mackinnon, 1979). Scholars relate masculine gender associations with harassment within higher education context. Connell’s (1987) hegemonic masculinity theory, which contends that the social order favors a single normative model of masculine conduct, avails a comprehensive sociological structure for analyzing pestering, gender, and power. Men may be harassed if they are viewed as womanly, while females might be harassed if they reject their gender system’s submissive position. However, a reconsideration of the idea of hegemonic masculinity appears valuable if and only if it proves useful to all genders to live a life of dignity relevant to present-day context.

Through the sexual objectification of females and other feminized matters, sexual harassment serves as a tool for perpetuating heteropatriarchy. It might be viewed as a cultural “wallpaper” for patriarchy and as part of a “continuum of violence” that normalizes both male authority in general and more stern kinds of sexual abuse in particular.

4 Sexual Harassment in Institutions of Higher Learning

In recent years, tertiary educational institutions have progressively been identified as predominantly problematic spots for sexual harassment and other methods of gender ferocity, as well as street spaces and spaces surrounded by the nighttime economy (Boyer, 2021 citing Batty et al., 2017). Sexual harassment has recently dominated the news from the corporate world, journalism, politics, and entertainment (Cantalupo & Kidder, 2018). Academia has not been spared. Sexual harassment in academia has been called an “epidemic” by the news media (Boyer, 2021 citing Batty et al., 2017) and “the single most widespread educational hazard” by academics (Rudman et al., 1995, p. 519). Professorial sexual harassment has been reported in the media since 1980 (Libarkin, 2019), and current studies in academia show that the problem remains.

5 Evolution of Research on Sexual Harassment in Universities

In the mid-1970s, the terms “sexual harassment” and “sexual assault” were coined in Canada, the USA, Australia, and Europe (Bennett, 2002; Pereira, 2004). Bennett (2002) claims that the word “sexual assault” was first used to describe GBV in workplaces and educational institutions. While the word “sexual assault” is recent, the behavior it encompasses has been around for decades. Working Women United conducted a study in 1975 that was the first time this concept was used.

However, it was not until 1979 that the first draft of Catherine MacKinnon’s book, “Sexual Harassment of Working Women,” was circulated by women’s groups and feminist organizations in the USA, and it became very prominent. Lin Farley’s “Sexual Shakedown” (1978) and Catherine Mackinnon’s publication on sexual harassment were brought to public attention. As a result, research on sexual assault was able to begin in Europe, the USA, Canada, and Australia. In the 1990s, the first attempt to conduct research on GBV and sexual harassment in AHE was made. The London-based Human Rights Organizations in Africa (African Rights 1994 in Hallman 1994; Pereira, 2004; Unpublished) conducted the first inquiry into sexual harassment and ferocity on female learners in 12 secondary and tertiary educational institutions. The investigation’s findings were released in a groundbreaking discussion paper titled “Crimes without Punishment,” which showed a high incidence of sexual assault in African educational institutions. Documentary reviews of committee and workshop reports, written books, journals, and informal interviews with key informants were used to compile the results.

Similar research in South, Central, and West Africa closely followed the investigation. In the early 1990s, the University of Cape Town (UCT) conducted a systematic study on sexual harassment in response to sensational articles in local newspapers and magazines about the scale of sexual harassment on SA campuses (Simelane, 2001). In addition, five female students were raped, prompting UCT to conduct an investigation by forming a Committee of Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in November 1989 (Sutherland, 1994; Gouws and Kritizinger, 2007). The task of the committee was to gather objective evidence on the extent and prevalence of sexual assault at UCT. According to research from the UK, more than 60% of all students suffer some type of sexual abuse while at university, with 40% depicting sexual misbehavior on the staff’s part.

6 Sexual Harassment in African Universities

The majority of the studies were conducted in South African universities, especially after the 1994 Conference at UCT in 1997. Gouws and Kritizinger (University of Stellenbosch), Mapetia and Matlosa (National University of Lesotho), Mate (University of Zimbabwe), and Tlou and Letsie (University of Zimbabwe) conducted the research (University of Botswana). Masiela (1998) conducted her research at the University of Swaziland, while Naidoo and Rajab (1999) and Simelane (2001) did so at the University of Natal’s Durban and Pietermaritzburg campuses. In Zimbabwe, Zindi (1994), Shumba & Matina (2002) studied at universities, polytechnics, and teachers’ colleges.

Phiri’s research (1999; 2000) was conducted at the University of Malawi’s Chancellor College Campus, while Reuben (1999) and YayhaOthman (2000) published a paper based on secondary data from UDSM in Tanzania. In West Africa, Ladebo (2003), Adedokun (2005), and Britwum (2005) conducted their studies in Nigeria and Ghana, respectively, while Imasogie (2002) conducted his research at Olabisi Onabanjo University in Nigeria. In a comparative analysis, Ladebo (2003) gathered data from three Nigerian universities: a federally sponsored university, a state-owned university, and a private religious university.

The most frequent form of sexual harassment in Nigerian universities, according to Aja-Okorie (2014), is harassment from lecturers to students, though there is also harassment from students to students and students to lecturers. In the academic world, there is harassment between lecturers and harassment from third parties directed at students or lecturers. Third-party harassment is any unwelcome social conduct, whether sexual or non-sexual, perpetrated by an organization’s independent contractor against students, lecturers, or administrative staff.

In Nigerian universities, sexual harassment by lecturers, non-academic employees, and even students has always been an issue (Gbulie, 2018). This position is unmistakably supported by the “sex for grades” controversy that ensued lately at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), where a professor was fired for requesting sexual satisfaction in a trade-off for grades from a female student (Gbulie, 2018).

The reasons that led various researchers to perform sexual assault studies differed from one institution to the next. Students’ complaints, media coverage, students’ academic success, the death of a female student, and the need to develop sexual assault policies and interventions are among them. Letsie and Tlou (1997) conducted their research in response to a flurry of committee studies, meetings, allegations, and rising statistics of sexual abuse of female students by male lecturers published at the Students Counselling Centre (SCC), Students Representative Council (SRC), and Office of the Students Affairs. Press coverage and media reports revealing rampant incidents of sexual harassment, especially the debate about the mode of dress worn by female students as a possible cause of violence against women, prompted Zindi (1994) and Britwum (2005) to conduct their research.

Following the suicide of a female student (Reuben, 1999), UDSM established the Gender Task Force, GDPC, and formed a probe committee in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences to address sexual harassment. Former President General Olusegun Obasanjo ridiculed male lecturers at the universities for treating women students and other female workers as “sex objects.” This scenario prompted Ladebo’s (2003) research. Similarly, in 2004, Hon. Beth Mugo, Kenya’s former Assistant Minister of Education, challenged the University of Nairobi to prove the legitimacy of charges of sexual harassment by professors, lecturers, and college tutors against female students. These agitations by various government officials in different countries served as a wake-up call to all universities to investigate the state of SH in institutions of higher learning. To respond to the institutional situation on SH, the University of Newcastle was prompted to conduct a report on sexual assault in order to give knowledge and facts not focused on theory and claims rather than on empirical evidence.

7 Barriers to Reporting Sexual Violence in Universities

Faculty and students can engage in an atmosphere that provides some convenience on university campuses. This, in and of itself, creates potential for moral deviance, which can lead to inappropriate conduct such as sexual harassment. Despite there being a great occurrence of sexual harassment in academic establishments according to Foster and Fullagar (2018), and the universities anti-sexual harassment measures that are accompanied by grievance handling mechanisms, the SH vice continues to be massively underreported (Cantor, Fisher, Chibnall & Townsend, 2015).

All university learners are at risk of sexual harassment due to their subject position, but female students are especially vulnerable due to their gendered inferior status (Alayan & Yair, 2010; Fisher, Cullen & Turner, 2000). As a result, sexual harassment of female students has been identified as a major alarm (Rozee & Koss, 2001).

Underreporting and non-reporting of sexual harassment reduce the effectiveness of anti-sexual provocation legislation while also giving the impression that the issue does not exist (Vijayasiri, 2008). If abuse is not documented, the chances of it happening again are higher (Foster & Fullagar, 2018). Faulty grievance handling processes enshrined in university anti-sexual harassment legislation have been blamed for non-reporting.

A fear of retribution, alleged reluctance on complaint handling, and the embarrassment felt by targets of sexual harassment were found to be the most common reasons provided in previous studies on why victims of sexual harassment do not report (Pinchevsky, Magnuson, Augustyn, Rennison, 2020). On further research, it was found that a number of women did not report sexual assault because they thought it was insignificant. However, they were more likely to disclose forms of abuse that they considered to be particularly serious.

Victims of sexual harassment are still afraid of being blamed if they reveal their encounters. Cultural factors have played a pivotal role, as well as sexual and gender stereotypes that favor men’s coercive sexual conduct while punishing women for men’s sexual transgressions (Hebert, 2007). Research findings have suggested that women who are subjected to sexual harassment on a regular basis are less likely to report it because the incidents decrease their self-confidence, which reduces their capacity to react to sexual harassment. Lack of proof and perceptions that the details of sexual harassment will be met with indifference deters victims from reporting complaints. Victims are usually dreadful that their ordeal could not be believed by the complaint handlers and that the suspect could refute its occurrence (Ssali et al., 2020).

The following survivor sentiments have been identified as the frequent obstacles to reporting rape and sexual assault: “it was a private matter, I took care of it informally,” “afraid of reprisal from offender or others,” “reported to another official,” “minor incident,” “not certain it was a crime,” “did not want the offender to get in trouble,” “police would not think it was important or would be inefficient or ineffective,” “police would be biased or cause the respondent trouble,” and “could not identify the offender” (Sable, Danis, Mauzy & Gallagher, 2006 citing Bachman, 1998, p. 21).

Men, even more than women, are less likely to state cases of rape or sexual harassment (Isely, 1998). A survey in the UK indicates that 79 percent of 115 men who subsequently pursued help from a distinctive rehabilitation program for male rape victims did not try to find any help after the episode and only 15 percent reported it to the authorities; the average period it took to seek help was 7.3 years for those who were raped at the age of 16 or older (King & Woollett, 1997) Because of the deficiency of responsiveness paid to male sexual harassment victims, society has dismissed the issue as something that only happens in the gay community or in prisons (Pino & Meier, 1999). Men are less likely to report than women because reporting is thought to jeopardize their masculine self-identity (Sable, Danis, Mauzy and Gallagher, 2006).

Personal embarrassment, respect for confidentiality, mistrust of criminal justice proceedings, and distress of victim retribution have all been obstacles to disclosing rape and sexual harassment offenses in the past. Despite rape reform studies and legislation, results show that the dilemmas that existed prior to the rape reform movement still exist. Shame and humiliation, as well as a need to keep the abuse or sexual harassment from friends and family members, continue to control victims’ concerns.

Victims’ self-blame, as well as feel anxious, remorse, and embarrassment, may lead to failure to report a rape or sexual assault. While both female and male victims experience self-blame and guilt, the reasons for these feelings are often gendered in context. Stereotypes of seductive and vindictive women exist in society, and they can continue to obstruct women’s reporting. Indeed, defense lawyers have used gender stereotypes to skew juries against claimants, resulting in a lower likelihood of trial and conviction.

8 Recent Research on Sexual Harassment in Higher Institutions of Learning

There are various researches on sexual harassment in tertiary education that attribute the issue to unintended pregnancies, HIV prevention, and direct and indirect effects of poverty. However, there are more concrete issues, such as a request by the male teachers for sexual services or favor from the female learners in order for them to obtain effective examination certificates in their studies, which are discussed on a regular basis.

The last 10 years have witnessed a significant shift, from sexual harassment meted by educators in asking for sexual favors to new ideas, viewpoints, new ways of exposure to sexual intimidation online, minority episodes, and a resurgence of systems on crime, arrangement, and organization. In recent years, the hashtag #Metoo has given the ability to speak on sexual harassment as a global problem that affects every aspect of life. Numerous academic articles have already been published, some of which include research on sexual assault in higher education.

Systematic studies showed that in higher education, heterosexual women are exposed to sexual harassment between 11 and 73 percent of the time (median 49 percent), whereas heterosexual men are exposed to sexual harassment between 3 and 26 percent of the time (median 15 percent). According to these findings, female learners at junior stages of education are more likely to be subjected to sexual offenses. In the studies examined, vulnerability to sexual assault and intimidations of sexualized abuse have decreased over a period of time, although subjection to sexual harassment has remained quite constant (Bondestam & Lundqvist, 2020).

9 Sexual Harassment in Kenyan Universities

Gitobu (1999), Omale (2000), Wanjala (2000), and Kawira and Nyaga (2008) conducted a variety of empirical and non-empirical studies on sexual abuse in Kenyan universities. A Research Consortium on Sexual Harassment and Abuse of Women, a project of Kenya’s Public Law Institute, conducted a comparative analysis (Wanjala, 2000). Wanjala’s research in Nairobi County (urban) and Mwingi District, Kitui County, centered on the existence, prevalence, and scale of sexual harassment in public and private colleges, the former Kenya Polytechnic (then a constituent campus of University of Nairobi (UoN), secondary schools, and a variety of workplace institutions (rural).

Wanjala collected data from Mwingi District using simple open-ended questionnaires, while he interviewed respondents in Nairobi County using a sample of 100 randomly selected respondents, all of whom were women. Wanjala was met with open hostility from possible male respondents who refused to be interviewed, dismissing the exercise as a pointless exercise since “there was nothing like sexual harassment in Kenya” (Wanjala, 2000, p. 41). According to Wanjala’s results, 84 percent of the 92 percent respondents claimed they had been sexually assaulted at the public universities or community colleges. The high percentage (84%) indicates that sexual assault is a common occurrence among female students at the public universities and colleges in Kenya. However, due to fear of stigmatization, family settlement after abuse, and family honor narrative, many of the SH cases go unreported.

The Technical University of Kenya’s vice chancellor, Francis Aduol, confirms the existence of sexual harassment when he says “information about sexual harassment in universities is concealed. We are having so many cases of missing marks, but it never occurred to me some of them are because of sexual harassment,” and Aduol said adding that Kenya needs to find a way to escalate the issue of sexual harassment to Parliament.

10 Consequences of Sexual Harassment

Eight studies (Cantor et al., 2015; Jirek and Saunders, 2018; McGinley et al., 2016; Rospenda et al., 2000; Wolff et al., 2017) looked into the effects of SH on student well-being. Sexually abused students were more likely to custom or abuse alcohol, suffer psychological anguish, and develop physical ailments after the SH incident. In one study, SH had a greater impact on male graduate students’ problematic drinking than on female graduate students’.

In one report, student personnel who had been sexually assaulted were found to have the highest engagement in drinking activities (Rospenda et al., 2000). Chronic SH was found to predict possible mental health and drug misuse issues by McGinley, Wolff, Rospenda, Liu, and Richman (2016). Sexual harassment, on the other hand, was found to lead to learners’ post-traumatic growth (i.e., positive psychological changes encountered after surviving a traumatic event) by Jirek and Saunders (2018).

In one study (Wolff et al., 2017), SH interactions were linked to binge drinking, depression, and rage, while in another, they were linked to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), despair, low-life satisfaction, low health satisfaction, and general clinical symptomology. According to Huerta and associates, psychological distress caused by SH resulted in inferior academic gratification, more physical complaints, and disordered feeding, all of which resulted in greater disconnection from the academic atmosphere and poorer educational performance.

According to research in Kenya, sexual harassment contributes to women’s frustrations, causes career stagnation, and often leads to women leaving or changing jobs (Omale, 2000; Onsongo, 2005, 2007), since the majority of women are not powerful and willing to deal with sexual harassment issues (Omale, 2000; Onsongo, 2007). Sexual assault, which affects women’s bodies and sexuality in higher education, is rampant on campus, but intervention to tackle it is unequal, owing to the gender and power dynamics that surround it, as well as a lack of effective coping strategies on the part of those abused. In addition to their presence and success at various levels on campus, sexual harassment becomes a major factor in women’s work turnover and slower career growth (Anierobi et al. 2021; Onsongo, 2007).

In most discussions of gender and Higher Education (HE) in Africa, sexual violence is mentioned as a major source of harm to women, as well as a force that silences and disempowers women (Bennett, 2002). Furthermore, sexual assault is one of the routes into institutional culture research, according to Bennett (2002), Bennett and Reddy (2007), because it illuminates the power structures that form academic and social “careers.” Given the diversity of power structures that make up the university system, addressing institutional power arrangements at various levels within the university is essential if reform is to occur.

11 Laws and Policies

Today, nine out of ten countries have legislation prohibiting unwanted sexual advances in the workplace, but almost six out of the ten lack adequate by-law barring sexual harassment in tertiary institutions of education and schools (Tavares & Wodon, 2018). One of the countries in Africa that has existing legal frameworks is Kenya. The following are the legal frameworks governing sexual harassment in Kenya:

  • The Kenyan Constitution of 2010 relates GBV in its Bill of Rights

  • The Sexual Offences Act (2006)

  • Sexual Offences Act: Witness Protection Act

  • The Children’s Act (2001)

  • The Penal Code

  • The Marriage Act

  • Female Genital Mutilation Act (which criminalizes the practice).

Despite the fact that sexual harassment is rampant in educational settings (Foster & Fullagar, 2018) and that universities have implemented anti-sexual provocation measures with grievance handling structures to tackle it, the iniquity continues to be grossly underreported (Cantor, Fisher, Chibnall and Townsend, 2015). All university learners are at risk of offensive sexual advances and exploitation due to their subject position, but female students are especially vulnerable due to their gendered subordinate position (Fisher et al., 2000).

Policymakers tend to have strong opinions about how victims of sexual abuse should respond: by reporting it (Hebert, 2007). Guarantees made in sexual harassment laws, however, have not been adequate to inspire fatalities to come frontward (Hertzog et al., 2008). Just a small percentage of casualties use the grievance mechanisms protected in the university anti-sexual assault legislation (Clancy et al., 2020), despite the fact that sexual harassment in education cannot be addressed without the victims’ cooperation (Gillander Gådin & Stein, 2019).

12 Sexual Harassment Intervention Strategies

There are several journal articles advocating the application of strategies as a primary prevention mechanism, but there is absolutely no proof on the research of the actual impact of policies on reducing the incidence of sexual harassment; for example, there is no confirmation that increasing the effect of policies on sexual harassment through facts, communication, and policy revision would affect underreporting, policy awareness, or giving an account of behavior (Lindenberg & Reese, 1995; Reese and Lindenberg, 2002). As a result, the role of policy is inconsistent in the research sector.

Approaches on sexual harassment in higher education appear to emphasize on individual women, permitted institutions, and frameworks for addressing the allegations (case management), while the offenders’ viewpoints and the implications for the wider workplace are often absent.

The lack of important understanding (Tinkler, 2012) combined with a weak or non-existent abstract contextualization of sexual harassment, an incompetence to term the problematic sexual harassment in all its complexity (in particular, feminist perspectives on intersectionality and links to interconnected forms of gender-based violence in higher education institutions), further deteriorates both investigation on policy and research on sexual harassment.

According to systematic review, there is no proof of evidence on official frameworks or case management systems dealing with sexual harassment familiarities in tertiary education systems, i.e., secondary deterrence that provides complete reparation to the victims. Contrary to that, study further shows that there are no effective and relevant case management techniques within the tertiary institutions of learning to mitigate effectively cases of offensive sexual advances and exploitation. Several studies did earlier place a greater emphasis on employers’ obligation to implement active mechanisms that enable every worker to disclose sexual abuse, rather than justifying case management systems that reinforce individual rights or their requests for protection or redress (Kors, 1991; Meek and Lynch, 1983; Robertson, Dyer and Campbell, 1988).

Globally, one in five women and one in 16 men at university level have been victims of sexual harassment; however, strategies to curb this menace are being put in place. For example, in sub-Saharan African countries, the existence of sexual harassment is evidenced in “Sex for Grades” as documented by BBC (2019) that says “Pressuring students to exchange sexual acts for favourable grades and rewards is rife throughout the region.” The documentary points a finger at the university Dons in Ghana and in Nigeria as the perpetrators of such acts in order for the students to improve or keep their grades in exchange for sex. To address the sex for grade issue, the Nigerian Senate reintroduced a law on sexual harassment in higher learning institutions to help curb the SH menace. However, it is not that simple, “without evidence, it’s really difficult said one student.” “Some of the lecturers are really smart: They won’t text you, they’ll just call you.” And further still another student says, “We have laws and policies in place but the problem is in implementation. Even if you do report someone, they’ll be cautioned and you’ll still see them around the university. And then there’s the stigma: What if people think you wanted it.” These expressions by the students highlight the existence of widespread harassment at the universities in Nigeria, Ghana, and in most African countries.

In Kenya, ActionAid in partnership with UN Women launched a baseline survey in an effort to find out the reality of sexual harassment in the Kenyan universities and colleges. The survey covered 1015 students drawn from the University of Nairobi, Kenyatta, Pioneer, Multimedia, Zetech, and Daystar universities. The findings of the survey revealed that of the 1015 students 49% female and 24% male have experienced sexual harassment from a staff member at their institution. 66% of the incidences were by a lecturer. Of the sexual harassment victims, the majority do not tell anyone with 38% female and 33% male students of the opinion that it would be unlikely that the institution will take a report of sexual harassment seriously. The report further noted that 1 in 2 female students and 1 in 4 male students have been sexually harassed. The study unraveled that lecturers are the largest perpetrators at 66% followed by service staff at 24% and management at 23%. Although these statistics confirm that sexual harassment is a deeply ingrained issue targeting students and staff in higher learning institutions in Kenya, it also shows a network of partners working to unearth the reality and armed with the statistics lobby to resolve the existing gaps to help restore student’s human rights and create a risk-free environment in which the students can flourish, renovate, and contribute positively to their personal and educational transformation.

In Kenya, there exists a National Campaign dubbed #CampusMeToo movement (National News, Dec 2019) supported by ActionAid in partnership with UN Women. The campaign rallied more than 10,000 students who signed a petition to the university managers and the national government to help mitigate sexual harassment in universities both online and offline. More than 10,000 students presented their petition to Gender Affairs PS, the Ministry of Education and Public Services, and Youth and Gender Ministry. The students demanded that all newly enrolled students watch an educational resource on sexual harassment, make sexual harassment a topic in every induction for first-year students, organize an annual training for all university staff on sexual harassment, and appoint a gender officer and institute a functional and independent investigation committee to look into issues of sexual harassment and any other human right violation within the universities. This campaign received a massive support from Margaret Kobia, the cabinet secretary to the Ministry of Youth and Gender (2019), when she wrote “This is a timely intervention on the vice of sexual harassment that has taken root in our institutions.” She further said that “I am glad that we are raising our voices to break the silence.” However, with the governments’ strong support in addressing the SH practices in the universities, there is no guarantee of the student’s demands and the policy implementations within the institutions.

There is now a Movement Tackling Sexual Harassment at Kenya’s Universities as reported by Louise Donovan, facing up to sexual harassment in Kenyan universities. “The issue is huge and needs to be dealt with,” Leah Wanjama, a senior lecturer at KU, explains over the phone. “And it’s not only KU, it’s happening at many other universities in Kenya.” “There is so much being done to fight the problem across Africa,” says a 21-year-old graduate of Nairobi University, who got involved after hearing one too many stories of harassment. She rejoices to note that “I’ve seen a #CampusMeToo movement in Uganda, as a result of the BBC documentary, which means many more students are talking about this issue.”

Systems exist in some universities to help reduce sexual harassment. Many universities have gender departments and sexual harassment policies in place to deal with issues of gender-based violence (Kameri-Mbote, Kinyanjui & Gadaffi, 2018). At Kenyatta University (KU), for example, the Centre for Gender Equity and Empowerment is tasked with raising awareness of the gender problems affecting the university and provides new students with a booklet titled Stop Sexual Harassment, which includes information on how to report incidents. All these strategies are a way of drawing several institutions of higher learning to begin to pay more attention to this pertinent issue of sexual harassment leading to follow-up conversations with both government and university officials to work to end the sexual harassment injustice in the institutions of higher learning.

The campaign 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence is another strategy employed the world over under the UN auspices to help create awareness of gender-based violence. Although this does not happen at the universities, it brings together stakeholders who map out ways of hyping the call to safe spaces for the woman and girl child irrespective of their context. The 16-day awareness awakening activities help mitigate violence against women and girls, hence creating a safer environment for all. Any strategy that reduces violence is a welcome move to a more just society for all persons to live in dignity. The 2020 women and girls 16 Days Activism Against Gender Violence themed: Orange the world is such a noble initiative to restore hope to all humanity.

If there is one theme that is clear in the literature, it is that men, who are typically in positions of power in academia, are more likely to commit sexual harassment. Increasing the number of women in higher organizational levels is one of the first steps to be taken to reduce sexual harassment; in fact, this strategy has been advocated for decades (see, e.g., Bell et al., 2002).

13 Research Gap

Inadequate concepts, samples, survey techniques, and underreporting all pose obstacles to research on sexual assault in higher education. In general, quantitative cross-sectional prevalence studies dominate international study, but they frequently lack coherent theoretical perspectives. Instead, research is primarily done using legal concepts of sexual assault from around the country. The vast majority of peer-reviewed publications are written in English and depend on empirical evidence from the USA and, to a lesser degree, other English-speaking countries.

14 Conclusion

Sexual harassment is a significant social problem that has affected businesses around the world. In the workplace, this sexual behavior dehumanizes, humiliates, molests, oppresses, traumatizes, and incapacitates both male and female employees, young, middle-aged, and elderly. Employers, staff, students, and teachers at all levels are all affected. Interventions are in place to address SH; for example, legislations and policies have been formulated to arrest the situation, awareness creation, and sensitization forums, and the empowerment of victims and the would-be victims through life skills have been great strides toward addressing SH. Researches that have been carried out have shown that some deficiencies in terms of small sample sizes, deficient methodologies, and contextualizations have been imbalanced, hence living some gaps and contexts not well covered by the empirical studies.