“There Is Always an Excuse to Blame the Girl”: Perspectives on Sexual Harassment at a Jordanian University

Abstract

Sexual harassment (SH), defined as unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, presents a global public health issue and a barrier to empowerment for women and girls. To understand the perceived causes of SH in the Jordanian university context, we conducted focus groups ( n = 6) and participatory data collection with students ( n = 317) and interviews with staff and administrators ( n = 5) at a public university. These data identified norms governing men's and women's behavior, institutional climate and policies, tribal conservatism and protection of perpetrators, and early socialization as underlying SH. Campus-based interventions should adopt approaches aimed at multiple levels of the social ecology.