Sexual harassment is not a rare phenomenon, but the sensitivity of the topic, the low level of awareness and the normalization of the problem make sexual harassment a taboo subject whose solution is not sufficiently available.

Sexual harassment, defined as unwanted attention, physical or verbal, on women and men is found in all spheres of society, including universities.

They were presented today in the Netavil IT hub in Skopje the research findings - "The perception and experience of students at UKIM with sexual harassment". According to the answers, 21.3% of the students stated that they were in a situation where a professor addressed them with a nickname, such as: "girl", "gold", "doll", "kitten".

Some of the students witnessed the sharing of sexual jokes or jokes based on gender stereotypes by a professor, and 15,6 percent of the students received a comment about their physical appearance, after which they felt uncomfortable and sexualized. A quarter of respondents were not aware that sexual harassment had occurred, and even half of them believe that UKIM does not protect students from it. One fifth of respondents answered that sanctions are needed for perpetrators of sexual harassment, this research shows.

Otherwise, the research was conducted by the students of International Intercultural Studies in cooperation with the association Youth Peace Hub and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation - Skopje.

The survey includes over 300 students at UKIM faculties, as well as perceptions of UKIM professors.

Key research findings:

1. One out of five students (21.3%) were in a situation where the professor addressed them with a nickname, such as: "girl", "gold", "doll", "kitten";

2. As many as 47.8% of the students answered that they were in a situation where sexual jokes or jokes based on gender stereotypes were told by a colleague;

3. One in four students (26.2 %) witnessed the sharing of sexual jokes or jokes based on gender stereotypes by a professor;

4. 15.6% of the students were given a comment about their physical appearance, after which they felt uncomfortable and sexualized;

5. As many as 88.5% of the surveyed students do not know where they can report sexual harassment that happened at UKIM, and approximately every fifth student (18.44%) did not report sexual harassment because they did not know where they could report it;

6. Only 4.6% of students answered that they reported or know someone who reported sexual harassment;

7. Regarding the action taken by the institution in the case of sexual harassment, only in one case did the respondent express a positive explanation in court;

8. More than half (51.8%) of the students answered that UKIM "does not protect" and "does not protect" students from sexual harassment;

9. As many as 56.78% of female students believe that UKIM does not offer protection from sexual harassment at all, compared to 33.33% of male students;

10. 1/5 of the students (21.9 %) answered that sanctions are needed for perpetrators of sexual harassment.

Watch the statements from the students in the following video: