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Description
One third of Romanian students experienced sexual harassment during university (FILIA 2021). 43.6% of the universities mention in their code of ethics only harassment, missing its definition or the steps the victims must follow towards justice (FILIA, 2016). 1 in 10 victims avoid approaching the authorities after undergoing a form of abuse (Eurobarometer, 2017). When questioned, the authorities do not have statistics on sexual harassment in schools, focused on the abuse of teacher-student power. Within the project the cases of sexual harassment that took place in the last 5 years will be indexed in order to make an x-ray of the phenomenon in the Romanian education system by accessing court files, press articles and collect testimonies from victims, following a social media communication campaign.
The database will be translated into an interactive map on which people can navigate through the cases in different schools, thus providing an overview of the problem. It will be extracted from the statistical database and translate into infographics: cases of harassment per educational cycle, the response of the authorities, the evolution of cases thus the evolution of the reported cases and the response of the authorities over time is observed. Minimum 3 texts and audio investigations, accompanied by video teasers, infographics and photos, will be published through a communication campaign. With the support of partner it will be offered psychological and legal assistance to victims (minimum 15) that can get in touch through a telephone line dedicated to them. ANAIS will also conduct an exploratory study on sexual harassment in universities and schools (500 student responses, 50 teachers).
Through the map, other victims can write even after the project is over, to document their cases and add them to the big picture. Thus, the project becomes a constant barometer of sexual harassment in the school system for the millions of students in Romania.
Summary of project results
The project aimed to improve the response of educational institutions and support victims in combating the
phenomenon of sexual harassment by researching the phenomenon and awareness activities on the subject to
emphasize its scope, a series of journalistic investigations, an interactive map that includes all known cases of
sexual harassment in education and a package of legal and psychological counseling services for victims.
In 2017, the #metoo campaign went viral globally, but few public figures in Romania shared their experiences,
despite a 2021 study from the Filia Center showing that one-third of Romanian female students experienced
sexual harassment in universities. The reported cases were significant, yet many voices went unheard, and
few cases reached the courts. From 2022, cases of sexual harassment from the previous five years were
indexed, using court files, media reports, and testimonies gathered through a social media campaign. The
findings were presented in an interactive map, five investigative pieces (text and video), and an exploratory
study on harassment in universities, in collaboration with the ANAIS Association. After the project''s first
investigation in January 2023 and an awareness campaign, over 200 victims reached out to share their stories.
In terms of impact, with the publication of the final articles in the series of investigations on bullying in the
educational environment in Romania, the effect generated by the large number of articles published in a short
time was that of amplifying the subject, taken up in all media from the country, with hundreds of takeovers,
often informal that 2 universities (Bucharest and Lorraine, France), where one of the abusive professors
collaborates, suspended him and he will no longer continue his work at the department. Other universities, for
example, UNATC, have sanctioned through the Ethics Commissions the behavior of other professors who were
the subject of investigations within this project. The articles published on the RISE Project platform were read
by tens of thousands and picked up by hundreds of media outlets. The project’s articles were also awarded,
with the piece “CATEDRA DE ABUZ: ‘AU FOST NIȘTE RELAȚII DE IUBIRE’” winning third place in the
"Investigation" category at the 2023 Superscrieri Gala.