![Sample our Bioscience journals, sign in here to start your access, Latest two full volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5925/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Bioscience.jpg"})
Abstract
Sexual harassment severely impacts the educational system in the West African country Benin and the progress of women in this society that is characterized by great gender inequality. Knowledge of the belief systems rooting in the sociocultural context is crucial to the understanding of sexual harassment. However, no study has yet investigated how sexual harassment is related to fundamental beliefs in Benin or West African countries. We conducted a field study on 265 female and male students from several high schools in Benin to investigate the link between sexual harassment and measures of ambivalent sexism, gender identity, and rape myth acceptance. Almost half of the sample reported having experienced sexual harassment personally or among peers. Levels of sexism and rape myth acceptance were very high compared to other studies. These attitudes appeared to converge in a sexist belief system that was linked to personal experiences, the perceived probability of experiencing and fear of sexual harassment. Results suggest that sexual harassment is a societal problem and that interventions need to address fundamental attitudes held in societies low in gender equality.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to the Society for International Cooperation (formerly known as German Developmental Service) and Centre Afrika Obota. In particular, we thank Kora Gouré-Bi, Urbain Amegbedji, Elisabeth Kowalla, Guy-Fabien Djibode, Arnaud Breitenstein, Sergius Sodokpa, and Erich Stather for their organizational support. Furthermore, we thank all participating NGOs, schools, and students, without whom this study would not have been possible. Last, but not least, we are very grateful to two anonymous reviewers for their thorough and thoughtful feedback that very much improved this manuscript.
Notes
3. Cf. CIA World Factbook (2012).: Retrieved July 12, 2012, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bn.html
4. Please note that rape can be seen as an extreme form of sexual aggression toward women in extension to sexual harassment (Begany & Milburn, Citation2002; Check & Malamuth, Citation1985), suggesting that different forms of (sexual) aggression against women may share similar causes (Brownmiller, Citation1975; Malamuth, Citation1984).
5. Twelve students were from different high schools in Cotonou and were not assessed at school. Their information on schools is missing.
6. The 16 excluded participants did not differ from the main sample on age, gender, or year of school.
7. Students of age 20 and older are not uncommon in Beninese high schools.
8. Exploratory investigations based on Schröter and Segbedji (Citation2009) served as a starting point for conceiving the presented study. The first author conducted discussions on sexual harassment in the school environment (a) with female and male students from a high school in Cotonou who had previously worked with NGOs in fighting corruption and sexual harassment at school, and (b) with a Beninese woman who serves as the gender expert to the German Society of International Cooperation in Benin. Discussions confirmed that sexual harassment is a widespread and persistent problem (not only) in the educational system that is perceived inherent to the school system. It was established that not only female students and male teachers (there are few female teachers in Benin) were involved in acts of sexual harassment, but that (predominantly male) students served as intermediators. Intermediators may either be coerced into their role of facilitating communication between teacher and female student or voluntarily lend themselves to it. Female students are usually coerced by teachers into sexual harassment. However, the discussants unanimously stated that female students sometimes initiate the sexual contacts themselves. The discussants also stated that teachers use grades or passing a school year as pressurizing medium, though. In some cases, sexual harassment leads to undesired pregnancies that force female students to leave school. Also, the fear of sexually transmitted diseases is high. This background knowledge is very crucial to understanding sexual harassment in Benin.
9. Participation rate was presumably high as these high schools had previously participated in other studies of the local NGOs. Moreover, the murder of Kate Puzey has heightened the awareness of sexual harassment being a problem in Beninese high schools.
10. The consent form and all questions were in French.
11. To facilitate responding for the students who were mostly unfamiliar with such studies, and hence to reduce error variance, we employed a 7-point Likert-type-scale indicating the degree of agreement (1 = strong disagreement, 7 = strong agreement) for all scales. Only the ASI scaling was adjusted (original scaling 6-point scale: 0 = disagree strongly − 5 = agree strongly). However, Begany and Milburn (Citation2002) also employed a 7-point Likert-type-scale with the ASI in their study.
12. A factor analysis with varimax rotation produced a three-factorial solution explaining 36% of the variance. While one factor clearly reflected hostile sexism and one pertained to benevolent sexism, a third represented a mixed factor of both kinds of sexism, which could be interpreted as paternalism.
13. We assessed the factor structure of the BSRI conducting a factor analysis with varimax rotation. We obtained a five-factorial solution according to the Kaiser-criterion, which explained 58% of the variance. The resulting factors were similar to the five factors (sensibility toward others, athletic, leadership, determination, self-assurance) suggested in Fontayne et al. (2000). The major difference was that the self-confidence items loaded on the same factor as items regarding love for children, gentile character, and fighting spirit.
14. IRMAS item dropped from the ‘Not Rape’ subscale: If the rapist doesn't have a weapon, you really can't call it a rape.
15. The remaining 41 items were submitted to a factor analysis with varimax rotation. The scree-test suggested a two-factorial solution, which explained 26% of the variance. All items from the subscales ‘He didn't mean it’ and ‘She lied’ loaded on the first factor. All items of subscales ‘Rape is trivial’ and ‘It was not really rape’ loaded on the second factor. Items from the remaining scales that mainly referred to blaming the victim loaded on both factors. This suggests that the first factor represented exculpating the perpetrator, whereas the second factor represented trivialization and denial of rape. This factor structure deviates from the one suggested by Payne et al. (Citation1999).
16. The eight items assessing socially desirable responding were presented in random order with the Bem Sex Role Inventory. The items’ English translation is as follows: (1) I am never worried. (2) I always do what one has to do. (3) I always do what people tell me to do. (4) I always do my work as good as I can. (5) I like everybody that I know. (6) Nobody ever blames me. (7) I am never frightened. (8) I always tell the truth.
17. Not all participants finished all questionnaires. If number of missing values did not exceed 10%, we imputed the mean of the item across participants. The BSRI was not completed by 61 male and 12 female participants; the ASI score was missing for 64 male and eight female participants; the IRMAS scale was not completed by 71 male and 13 female students and finally, no impression management score was computed for 60 male and eight female participants.
18. Centering was based on the participants included in the regression.