Certain professors take advantage of this fact to subject their students to sexual blackmail. As Benghrib puts it,. However, the scope of the study does not reflect the magnitude of sexual harassment in educational establishments, and universities in particular.
El Abed and Garbouj are the authors of a study on sexual harassment in universities, recently published by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung foundation in Tunisia. Sexual harassment occurs in different formsβinsistent looks, comments on clothing, intrusive questions about private lifeβand can take place in real life or on social media. Mayssa is one of many cases.
The Facebook group Ena Zeda [Me Too] which denounces sexual violence in Tunisia abounds with the testimonies of harassment victims. These testimonies highlight certain characteristics common to the perpetrators of sexual harassment: an especially touchy-feely individual, a professor who tries to be funny, enjoys a certain status; a womanizer. Disillusioned, some students choose to laugh it off, playing down the behavior of the offending professor. Others evoke their experience tangentially.
Still others observe a code of silence. Owing to the power relationship between aggressor and victim, silence serves as a shield for sexual harassment in Tunisian universities. Often overlooked or dismissed as inconsequential, or else perceived as a part of daily life for women, these abuses are also commonly tolerated by society. Intimate relations between teachers and university students are sometimes seen as courtship between two consenting adults.
Rania pseudonym remembers a supervisor who she would sometimes have to meet outside of university. He had an excellent reputation. A friendship blossomed over the course of our work sessions. He was an interesting person. His fingers would brush mine, then he would take my hand and hold it for a long time. I was uncomfortable, and I think this showed on my face. Rania explains how she was afraid to lose him as a supervisor and have to reregister.
