Ending Sexual Harassment and Violence in Third Level Education (ESHTE)

The Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (MIGS)  is a partner to the project entitled: "Ending Sexual Harassment and Violence in Third Level Education (ESHTE)". The project aims to prevent and combat sexual violence and harassment (SVH) and build a culture of zero tolerance in universities and 3rd level institutions (UTLIs) throughout Europe through building; a feminist understanding and analysis, of the caused and effects of SVH. More importantly, it aims to support UTLIs to articulate a clear message, commitment, set of core values, ethos procedures and protocols to build a Zero Tolerance Zone and provide opportunities for sharing models of good practice.

Coordinator: National Women's Council of Ireland (NWCI)

Partners: Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies, the Women's Issues Information Centre (WIIC) in Lithuania and Rape Crisis Scotland (RCS) in UK.

Associate Partners (in Cyprus): University of Nicosia

The main objectives of the project are to raise knowledge amongst UTLI staff, of the higher risk of SVH amongst young women and its negative impact on student’s academic performance and overall well-being. To raise awareness and provide information to students on; consent, the myths surrounding rape, supports available to victims, importance of reporting to the police, importance of naming and acknowledging experiences of SVH but also by raise awareness of the particular experiences of SVH of students with disability and students from minority ethnic groups

The project’s main target audience is:

-University students;

-UTLIs staff;

-Women's Equality organisations;

-Ministry of Education;

-Student Unions;

-University Organisations;

-Policy Force; and

-EU Institutions.

Activities

-Production and dissemination of materials on rape myths, sexual assault and SVH as a crime, ways to report it and support services.

-Production of a Toolkit on Mainstreaming SVH Intervention and Prevention in UTLIs.

-Delivery of 2 half day pilot training sessions with UTLl representatives in each partner country (Lithuania, Scotland, Ireland and Cyprus)

-Final European Project Conference in Dublin– Bringing together key European stakeholders and experts in the field to disseminate findings and good practice from the project

-Three dissemination seminars in each of the partner countries (Scotland, Lithuania and Cyprus.

Finally, ESHTE project will be implemented by a partnership of 4 non-profit organisations and several Universities in 5 EU member states, and will last for 30 months.