Intersectional approaches to gender-based violence in universities: Experiences and Interventions

Universities are significant sites for gender-based violence (GBV). We draw on theories of intersectionalities to explore how women’s experiences of GBV and higher education are impacted by university interventions and women’s social positioning. This chapter examines interview data with nine victim-survivors, including ethnic minorities, international students, working class, and middle-class students. This group of victim-survivors facilitated understanding how interventions and experiences may be similar and different across ethnicity, immigration status, and social class, and explores what the ‘ideal victim’ in terms of class, ethnicity, and immigration may look like. The data reveals that university interventions can enable women to have a sense of agency and control over their own lives while at the same time, social class, unequal immigration laws and policies, and a lack of empathy can act as disabling factors. The unique contribution of this chapter is that it highlights the positive role that universities and Higher Education Institutions can play in tackling and empowering women experiencing GBV.