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SAFEDUC Research Project

The SAFEDUC project aims to put research at the service of combating sexual and gender-based violence through the advancement of knowledge on the extent and diversity of this phenomenon within the student population.

Gender-based and sexual violence (GBSV) has been the subject of particular attention in public discourse for about a decade. This public visibility can largely be attributed to the success of widely disseminated online testimonial campaigns, such as #MeToo and #BalanceTonPorc. Alongside these campaigns, student and scientific initiatives have multiplied to bring visibility to these forms of violence in higher education and to put forward measures against them. These initiatives have notably shown that these types of violence predominantly affect female students and gender minorities, compromising their learning conditions, social interactions, and, by extension, potentially harming their career paths.

Measuring and Mapping Violence

The SAFEDUC project aims to develop and implement a survey to map gender-based and sexual violence (GBSV) prevalent in higher education within the student population. It will establish a reproducible survey protocol to measure SGBV, taking into account the multiplicity of forms these violences can take and the contexts in which they arise.
This survey will be tested and then deployed among the student population of Université Paris Cité (UPCité) and Sciences Po. This project will enable a more thorough understanding of the contexts in which violence occurs at the level of each university and campus. The survey will, therefore, contribute to updating existing research.

Section #faq

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

SAFEDUC is a quantitative research project led by Sciences Po’s Gender Studies Programme, carried out within the framework of the strategic partnership between Université Paris Cité and Sciences Po, and based on a grant awarded under the Initiative of Excellence Université Paris 2019 (IdEx UP19). From March 25th to May 13th 2024, all students at Université Paris Cité and Sciences Po, including doctoral students, are invited via email to anonymously respond to an online questionnaire. The aim of this questionnaire is to measure the prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) within the student population, document experiences of violence, and understand the contexts in which these incidents occur, in order to provide an overview of the number and types of violence experienced.

All students of Sciences Po and Université Paris Cité, from the first year to the fifth year, as well as PhD students! Students undertaking internships, apprenticeships, or in an university exchange programme are also invited to participate. While the survey primarily focuses on interpersonal violence experienced since the beginning of higher education, it also addresses study conditions. Even if you do not feel directly affected by these forms of violence, we invite you to respond: the participation of everyone is essential to ensure the quality and representativeness of the results.

This project aligns with the series of surveys conducted in recent years on the prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in higher education, in line with the “University” component of the Violence and Gender Relations (Virage) survey conducted by the French Institute for Demographic Studies (Ined) in 2015, Nantes Université's survey on exposure to sexual and gender-based violence, or the European H2020 UniSAFE project.

The SAFEDUC project will enable Université Paris Cité and Sciences Po to gain a better understanding of the contexts in which various forms of sexual and gender-based violence emerge. The results will help to objectify this phenomenon and measure its extent.

The average response time is estimated at 20 minutes. You can start responding, pause, and then resume at any time between 25th March and 13th May 2024.

Yes, responses to the questionnaire are anonymous. To ensure that only students from Université Paris Cité and Sciences Po respond to the questionnaire, we ask them to provide a student ID number and date of birth. This data will be automatically deleted to guarantee the anonymity of the responses.

For several months, a research team developed the questionnaire for this prevalence survey with the advice of a Scientific Committee (PDF, 350 KB), consisting of 20 researchers from various disciplines (sociology, economics, psychology, law, etc.), and based on the latest social science research to date.

The questionnaire was tested by a sample of students before being distributed to the entire student community.

This project received a favorable ethical opinion from the Inserm (French National Institute of Health and Medical Research) Ethical Evaluation Committee (CEEI-IRB) n°23-1062 on March 5, 2024.

Not all questions are accessible to screen readers. The software we use renders some questions non-compliant with WCAG 2.0 AA standards, but complies with other standards.

The information collected in the SAFEDUC questionnaire is anonymous. It is possible that the questionnaire may evoke painful memories or difficult emotions. If you wish to reach out to a dedicated listening and support service, please note that resources and structures are available to inform or assist you. These are detailed in a document:

Your university has dedicated services for gender-based and sexual violence:

The national French hotline for listening and guidance for victims of violence is 3919. In addition to French, support is available in 12 different languages: English, Arabic, Creole, Dari, Spanish, Hebrew, Kabyle, Mandarin, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, and Turkish. More information.

First, check your student email inbox and spam folder: on Monday, 25th March at 9:00 am, you received an email inviting you to respond to the SAFEDUC questionnaire. Also, posters are displayed at various sites and campuses of both institutions, with a QR code linking to the survey. If you encounter difficulties, send a message to our technical support: contact.safeduc@sciencespo.fr.

You can respond to the questionnaire from 25th March to 13th May 2024. After that, the research team will begin analysing the responses. The first results will be released in early 2025.

Virginie Bonnot (Gender Studies Center, LPS-UPCité) and Hélène Périvier (PRESAGE-Sciences Po) co-direct this project and coordinate it with Victor Coutolleau (PRESAGE-Sciences Po), Marta Domínguez Folgueras (CRIS-Sciences Po), Joëlle Kivits (ECEVE-UPCité), Clara Le Gallic-Ach (PRESAGE-Sciences Po), and Violette Toye (PRESAGE-Sciences Po).

On the posters you will see on your campuses, you will see four logos: that of the Gender Studies Programme at Sciences Po, that of Université Paris Cité, that of the Cité du Genre (FR) (an interdisciplinary initiative promoting teaching and research in gender studies within Université Paris Cité and its historic partners: Sciences Po, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, and Inalco), as well as the logo of the Initiative of Excellence (IdEx) and the France 2030 plan.

Discover the team through interviews:

  • Virginie Bonnot and Hélène Périvier, the project's principal investigators, discuss its origins and objectives.
  • Victor Coutolleau and Clara Le Galli-Ach, project researchers, mention the challenges they faced and why all students should take the survey.
  • Marta Domínguez Folgueras, Associate Professor at the Center for Research on Social Inequalities (CRIS) at Sciences Po, discusses the links between violence, power, and social hierarchies.
  • Joëlle Kivits, University Professor of Public Health and Vice-President for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at Université Paris Cité, explains the importance of violence prevention policies.

Contact us

For all requests relating to the program, please write at: presage@sciencespo.fr.