“Unsafe Education”: Misconduct and Abuse in the Risk University

The paper deals with the increasing phenomenon of sexual harassment in the academic environment, according to the figures of The Guardian investigation concerning sexual misconduct in UK Universities. In particular, Cambridge University recorded the highest number of incidents, after introducing a new reporting system. Thanks to its communicative impact, The Guardian investigation allows a further analysis into the reasons why universities failed to tackle sexual misconduct and did not succeed in enacting reforms to support and protect victims. This could be one of the most significant aspects of post-modern universities, partly enhanced by the perception of danger, both psychological and physical. Thanks to The Guardian’s investigation, and media emphasis on those figures, it is possible to interpret universities as places of risk in an era marked both by connected knowledge and relationships and by mass slaughters and the collective risks sometimes stemming from the involvement in research activities in unsafe countries. Sexual harassment in universities – perpetrated especially by students, as The Guardian inquiry emphasizes – sheds a light on the silent but painfully awkward situation of victims, usually unable to denounce the misconduct perpetrated by both students and staff.