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Behavioral Sciences
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Perspectives on Violence and Sexual Harassment
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Perspectives on Violence and Sexual Harassment

A special issue of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Psychology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2025 | Viewed by 2952

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Rosa Valls-Carol

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Theory and History of Education, University of Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain
Interests: gender violence; sexual harassment prevention

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Theoretical perspectives and their application in interventions across various professional fields and social settings (workplaces, universities, schools, communities, health services, etc.) have been successful in changing behaviors regarding the prevention of violence and sexual harassment but also in supporting victims to become survivors. They involve not only the victims but also the whole community as upstanders supporting them and rejecting any violent or harassing attitude. These interventions are based on scientific evidence of social impact from socioneuroscience working together with neuroscience and with social science contributions. The latest findings from socioneuroscience are contributing to the understanding of the kind of social interactions that lead to different behavioral manifestations regarding the reproduction or prevention of violence and sexual harassment. These are related to the preventive socialization of violence, the conscious versus unconscious processes of volition and social control associated with the dominant coercive discourse in society that depicts violent behaviors as attractive, and its overcoming, as well as the memory reconstruction of violent relationships.

This Special Issue calls for systematic reviews, short communications, and original studies (qualitative or quantitative) of successful interventions as individual, group or community approaches in diverse contexts that contribute to understanding what promotes behavioral changes that prevent violence and sexual harassment and help victims to become survivors. Suggested topics for this Special Issue include, but are not limited to:

  • Theoretical contributions from socioneuroscience and cognitive science related to behavioral change towards overcoming violence and sexual harassment;
  • Behavioral changes in the community (families, children, students, teachers, educators, workers) promoted by interventions aimed at the prevention of violence and sexual harassment in schools, universities, workplaces, and other social settings;
  • Behavioral changes and psychological effects in the process of moving from being a victim to becoming a survivor of violence and sexual harassment;
  • The behavioral changes and psychological effects of turning from being a passive bystander in a situation of violence and sexual harassment to being an upstander who stands in support of the victim;
  • The psychological effects of being a victim of isolating gender violence and being a direct victim of violence and sexual harassment;
  • The dialogic reconstruction of memories in sporadic violent intimate relationships.

Abstract submission deadline: September 30, 2024

Notification of abstract acceptance: October 15, 2024

Proposed submission deadline: January 31, 2025

Prof. Dr. Rosa Valls-Carol
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Behavioral Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • gender violence
  • sexual harassment
  • socioneuroscience
  • cognitive science, behavioral change
  • interventions
  • prevention
  • bystander intervention
  • psychological effects
  • survivors

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 301 KiB  
Article
Overcoming Sexual Harassment at University: The Case of the Training Intervention in the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
by Olga Serradell and Lidia Puigvert
Behav. Sci. 2025, 15(5), 596; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15050596 (registering DOI) - 29 Apr 2025
Abstract
The social and behavioral sciences have contributed enormously to our understanding of societies and the relationships between individuals within them. Sexual harassment is a universal social problem that is reproduced in different contexts and societies. However, institutions such as universities have made it [...] Read more.
The social and behavioral sciences have contributed enormously to our understanding of societies and the relationships between individuals within them. Sexual harassment is a universal social problem that is reproduced in different contexts and societies. However, institutions such as universities have made it invisible, contributing to the impunity of harassers and the vulnerability of victims. This has been the case for decades in countries such as Spain. Today, universities are implementing training measures to prevent such behavior. This article analyzes, from a dialogic sociological perspective, one of these interventions in terms of its success and impact on the academic community: the “Training for the Prevention of Gender-Based Violence at the University”, implemented by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Spain) between 2021 and 2024. The article defines and analyzes its main characteristics: (1) the contents based on scientific evidence; (2) the human commitment of the trainers; and (3) the dialogue with the solidarity network World MeToo Universities. The article concludes that the positive impact of this pioneering intervention in the academic community constitutes a universal and transferable successful action to overcome gender-based violence in universities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Perspectives on Violence and Sexual Harassment)
12 pages, 217 KiB  
Article
“Tell Me”: Disclosing Sexual Abuse by Survivors from the LGBTQ+ Community via Social Media
by Nofar Mazursky, Dafna Tener, Yochay Nadan and Ziv Aviram
Behav. Sci. 2025, 15(4), 435; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15040435 - 28 Mar 2025
Viewed by 369
Abstract
(1) Background: Members of the LGBTQ+ community face specific risk factors that make them more vulnerable to multiple forms of sexual abuse and victimization than cisgender heterosexual individuals. Furthermore, numerous personal, intrapersonal, societal, and cultural factors inhibit disclosure, threatening their wellbeing. The purpose [...] Read more.
(1) Background: Members of the LGBTQ+ community face specific risk factors that make them more vulnerable to multiple forms of sexual abuse and victimization than cisgender heterosexual individuals. Furthermore, numerous personal, intrapersonal, societal, and cultural factors inhibit disclosure, threatening their wellbeing. The purpose of the current study was to explore sexual abuse experiences among survivors from the LGBTQ+ community. (2) Methods: An analysis of sexual abuse disclosure posts published on an Israeli Instagram page called Torenu was conducted. Through the analysis of these posts, this study aimed to better understand the unique characteristics and dynamics of the sexual abuse of survivors from the LGBTQ+ community. Sixty-five posts from members of the LGBTQ+ community disclosing sexual abuse were analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis. (3) Results: Two themes emerged during the analysis. The first theme focused on the characteristics of the survivors and perpetrators. The second theme related to the abuse characteristics, addressing four main aspects: publicness, normalization, numbness of the senses, and escalation. (4) Conclusions: Understanding the nature of sexual abuse within the LGBTQ+ community could encourage society to take responsibility for fostering an inclusive discourse on sexuality, one that acknowledges LGBTQ+ identities, reduces stigma, promotes visibility, and facilitates intervention within the community. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Perspectives on Violence and Sexual Harassment)
18 pages, 253 KiB  
Article
The Co-Creation and Implementation of a Protocol for the Prevention of Gender Violence in a Non-University Adult Educational Center
by Alba Crespo-López, Rosa Valls-Carol and Elisenda Giner-Gota
Behav. Sci. 2025, 15(4), 406; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15040406 - 23 Mar 2025
Viewed by 327
Abstract
The scientific literature presents evidence of the processes involved in creating and developing protocols aimed at maintaining a safe educational and work environment that prevents gender violence in universities, which has shown negative neuropsychological health effects at the individual and community levels. However, [...] Read more.
The scientific literature presents evidence of the processes involved in creating and developing protocols aimed at maintaining a safe educational and work environment that prevents gender violence in universities, which has shown negative neuropsychological health effects at the individual and community levels. However, to date, there have been no scientific publications analyzing the characteristics of protocols that have been successful in preventing gender violence at non-university educational centers. To address this gap, and in the context of advancing the SDG 5 challenge “Gender equality”, a qualitative case study was conducted to analyze the social and behavioral aspects involved in the creation and implementation of a protocol for preventing and addressing gender violence at an urban adult school in Spain. The findings indicate that the co-creation and implementation of the protocol, involving women participants without higher education degrees, researchers, and educators from the school, contributed to better upstander behavior through support for victims from the very beginning, contributing to the creation of a space free from violent behavior that offers protection from its harmful psychological consequences. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Perspectives on Violence and Sexual Harassment)
20 pages, 4196 KiB  
Article
Postdigital Bystanding: Youth Experiences of Sexual Violence Workshops in Schools in England, Ireland, and Canada
by Jessica Ringrose, Debbie Ging, Faye Mishna, Betsy Milne, Tanya Horeck and Kaitlynn Mendes
Behav. Sci. 2025, 15(1), 81; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15010081 - 18 Jan 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1341
Abstract
In this paper, we report on creative- and arts-based sexual violence and bystander intervention workshops we developed and researched in England, Ireland, and Canada, through evaluation surveys, observations, and focus group interviews with nearly 1200 young people (aged 13–18). Whist the young people [...] Read more.
In this paper, we report on creative- and arts-based sexual violence and bystander intervention workshops we developed and researched in England, Ireland, and Canada, through evaluation surveys, observations, and focus group interviews with nearly 1200 young people (aged 13–18). Whist the young people generally reported benefitting from the intervention, in the context of increasing use of digital technologies amongst youth, we explore the context-specific challenges they faced in learning about and being supported through bystander strategies across a wide range of diverse school spaces. We use the term postdigital bystanding to explicitly explore how teen’s digital networks are often connected to the school-based ‘real life’ peer group, in ways that complicate clear distinctions between online and offline, arguing that these postdigital dynamics have not yet been adequately considered in bystanding interventions. We analyse how the intersectional community, cultural, and identity-specific factors in particular schooling environments shape responses to bystanding in postdigital environments, including how factors of sexism, defensive masculinity, elitism, racism, and a reluctance to report digital issues played out in the responses to the workshops. Finally, following young people’s suggestions, we recommend that schools need to cultivate better safety and support strategies for youth in order to make postdigital bystander interventions more responsive and therefore effective in challenging and preventing sexual violence in society. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Perspectives on Violence and Sexual Harassment)
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Review

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13 pages, 540 KiB  
Review
Analysis and Review of the Research and Advocacy for Behavioral Change Related to the Denormalization of Gender Violence in Spanish Universities
by Marta Soler-Gallart, Mar Joanpere and Lidia Bordanoba-Gallego
Behav. Sci. 2025, 15(4), 500; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15040500 - 9 Apr 2025
Viewed by 300
Abstract
Research on gender violence in Spanish universities began in 2003, 8 years after the first official denunciation. Conducting the first statewide survey on this issue was a significant step. This study provided essential data on gender violence in these institutions and reviewed effective [...] Read more.
Research on gender violence in Spanish universities began in 2003, 8 years after the first official denunciation. Conducting the first statewide survey on this issue was a significant step. This study provided essential data on gender violence in these institutions and reviewed effective prevention and response strategies from other countries. Further qualitative studies emerged that analyzed the behaviors of faculty, students, staff, decision-makers, and the media, which either perpetuated or prevented gender violence, along with the psychological and health impacts on victims and their supporters. After more than 20 years, a comprehensive literature review is needed to systematize these findings. To address this gap, a literature review was conducted to examine the behavioral changes within the university community and other relevant social actors regarding gender violence in universities. The results indicate that, although there is still some resistance, significant behavioral shifts have occurred, fostering a supportive network among faculty, researchers, staff, and students, which has contributed to an increased sense of safety. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Perspectives on Violence and Sexual Harassment)
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