The problematisation of a social phenomenon is a political process that both constructs the problem and, in doing so, suggests possible remedies and occludes others. Based on the first-ever comprehensive analysis of 129 UK university policies to address Gender-based violence (GBV), we examine how the 'problem' of GBV is conceptualised in…

Programmes for sexual violence prevention have focussed historically on university, school or college students rather than staff working at these institutions. The "Universities Supporting Victims of Sexual Violence project" (USVreact), co-funded by the European Commission, worked across universities in Europe to address this gap in the…

The articles in this themed issue explore global educational experiences that embrace various cultures, traditions, religions and identities. Collectively this work offers valuable insights into unexplored areas of research, illuminating issues that intersect across race, ethnicity and gender. The significance of these studies lies in the…

In the context of renewed debates and interest in this area, this paper reframes the theoretical agenda around laddish masculinities in UK higher education, and similar masculinities overseas. These can be contextualised within consumerist neoliberal rationalities, the neoconservative backlash against feminism and other social justice movements,…

While debates around sexualisation are underway in academic, policy, practitioner and popular contexts, there are tensions as well as connections across and within these arenas. This article traces the origins of policymakers' engagement with sexualisation and reflects on the conclusions from the recent reviews commissioned by the current and…

Whilst debate around the sexualisation of culture proliferates across discursive arenas, the potential meanings and impacts for the lives of women, girls and young people dominates discussion. Meanwhile, consideration of men and masculinities remains scarce or only thinly sketched across the field. This viewpoint explores sexualisation as a…

This viewpoint begins by exploring whether the global phenomenon of the 2011 "SlutWalks" constitutes a feminist politics of re-signification. We then look at some qualitative, focus group data with teen girls who participated in a UK SlutWalk. We suggest girls are not only negotiating a schizoid double pull towards performing knowing…

Sexual and gendered violence in the education sector is a worldwide concern, but in the UK it has been marginalised in research and policy. In this paper we present findings from the National Union of Students' study "Hidden Marks", the first nationwide survey of women students' experiences of violence. This research established high…

This article investigates the role of sport in framing and communicating hegemonic masculinity among male undergraduates within one British university. The data were collected through questionnaires and one-to-one interviews with 24 male students who were asked to consider their relationship with laddish masculinities. The evidence indicates that…

School exclusion and violence are defined with boys as the reference point and relatively little attention is given to the various forms of exclusion--disciplinary exclusion, self-exclusion and withdrawal from learning--to which girls are subject. Girls in difficulty at school receive less attention than their male peers from policy-makers,…