Equally Safe in Higher Education Research Toolkit: Guidance for Conducting Research into Gender-based Violence in Scottish Higher Education Institutions

The Scottish Government is committed to eradicating violence against women and girls (VaWG). Equally Safe outlines the current strategic policy for the prevention and elimination of VaWG and
all forms of gender-based violence (GBV).

The Equally Safe in Higher Education (ESHE) project was funded by the Scottish Government to implement Equally Safe in a pilot university and produce a National Toolkit for challenging GBV
in Higher Education Institutes (HEIs). Research on staff and student attitudes to, and experiences
of, GBV in higher education (HE) was a key work stream of the ESHE project.

The research workstream was implemented between 2016 and 2018 using the University of Strathclyde as the pilot site. The intention was to generate data on: views and perceptions of campus safety; attitudes to, and experiences of GBV; the impact of GBV; report and support pathways for victims/survivors; and broader issues of gender inequality and sexism in higher education.

The overall aim of the research methodology outlined in this Toolkit is to provide Scottish Higher Education Institutions with a means of creating an evidence base to inform the development of
their GBV prevention strategies. The project utilised a mixed-methods approach consisting of an online campus-wide survey sent to all university staff and students as well as follow-up in-depth, semi-structured qualitative interviews and focus groups.