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Abstract

This dissertation explores how rape culture manifests at universities in the UK. It aims to deploy and expand the socio-ecological theory to account for the role that society, legislation, and laddism play in rape culture at universities in the UK. Rape culture relies on an environment that normalises misogynistic behaviour, which manifests through a lack of consent education and a reluctance to enforce change. Consequently, university students in the UK are the victims of this environment, where almost two-thirds of scholars experience some form of sexual violence. This dissertation tackles the pervasive rhetoric that perpetuates this culture and explores how it manifests specifically in a university environment. It does so to enable policymakers and academics to better understand the nuances of multi-level influences of behaviour and attitude. Using secondary data from academics who have explored relevant topics and conducted relevant studies, this dissertation found that consent education to remove rape myth acceptance across society, legislation and lad culture, is the necessitated implementer for development. This dissertation further recommends how these systems can make innovative contributions to research and influence a safe and gender equal environment for university students. The study is significant because it bridges the gap between our theoretical understanding of gender equality as a UK development issue and our empirical understanding of rape culture at universities in the UK.

Course: International Development Studies - BA (Hons)

Date Deposited: 2022-02-17

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis13808.html