Care as a response to sexual and gender-related violence in Catalan universities: policy and institutional challenges

Abstract

Feminist research and mass demonstrations on campuses have proven that Higher Education Institutions are not violence-free spaces. In Catalonia, the legal obligations and institutional discomfort generated by some specific cases have forced Higher Education Institutions to take measures. How much support do these measures provide for survivors? Why have Higher Education Institutions followed the same path for years? Is it possible to imagine another way of making policies? This article aims to offer a critical feminist analysis of the development of Higher Education Institutions’ policies to combat sexual and gender-related violence implemented in Catalonia, as well as evaluating the possibility of moving from a punitivist, individualist approach to a new, radically more effective model that prioritizes care for survivors