The round table, titled “Sexual Harassment: From Theory and Understanding to Support for Victims,” was held at the Institute of Social Sciences on September 26.
The goal of the meeting was to bring together representatives from the academic community and the civil sector who are interested in studying violence against women, with a focus on sexual violence as a form of gender-based violence across various social contexts and spheres.
The event was organized into three panels addressing key topics: defining sexual violence, its representation in the media, and researching sexual violence in higher education institutions in Serbia. Discussions explored theoretical and phenomenological challenges related to the definition of sexual violence, highlighting the gap between theoretical, research-based, experiential, and criminological perspectives on the issue.
The problem of unethical media reporting on violence against women was also examined, emphasizing how such reporting can perpetuate systems of violence, and the importance of preserving the dignity of victims in the media.
The panel on sexual violence in higher education focused on previous research on sexual harassment in Serbian colleges and the role of scientific research in developing and improving procedures to combat sexual violence within institutions.
The round table featured participants from the Faculty of Political Sciences at the University of Belgrade, the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Belgrade, the Victimology Society of Serbia, as well as journalists from the weekly “Vreme” and Radio Television of Serbia.
The round table is part of a project approved under the internal call for the “Seed” Research Grant Program within the SAIGE (Serbia Accelerating Innovation and Growth Entrepreneurship) project.
