Citation

Colpitts EM. Gend. Educ. 2022; 34(2): 151-166.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/09540253.2021.1924362

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

As universities face unprecedented pressure to respond to sexual violence, this article critically analyses how they engage with intersectionality in their responses. Based on research in the Canadian province of Ontario, I demonstrate that universities' commitments to intersectionality often fail to translate into practice. This failure results in anti-violence measures that do not address how systems of oppression shape vulnerability and access to support, or how the university is implicated in and constituted through these systems. When commitments to intersectionality are accepted at face value, they enable the university to brand their anti-violence measures as progressive and inclusive without necessarily addressing how sexual violence is produced and sustained through existing institutional power arrangements. As such, rather than celebrating universities for merely referencing intersectionality, I conclude that these commitments must be used to hold them accountable to the transformative work required to eradicate sexual violence on campus.

Language: en

Keywords

Activism; Case Studies; College Administration; College Faculty; Educational Legislation; Foreign Countries; Inclusion; Institutional Evaluation; LGBTQ People; Minority Group Students; Neoliberalism; Organizational Change; Organizational Culture; Philosophy; Policy Analysis; Political Attitudes; Power Structure; Prevention; Rape; Reputation; School Personnel; School Policy; Sexual Orientation; Student Attitudes; Universities; Urban Areas; Violence