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Sexual harassment and other forms of offensive behaviour are serious problems within academia. They affect students and staff alike and are found in all disciplines. In this study, we consider the various forms and expressions of harassment. In addition to sexual harassment, this includes bullying, cyberbullying, victimisation and incivility, all of which we examine under the umbrella term gender-based violence. 

The purpose of this report is to describe the occurrence of and analyse the corelation between sexual harassment, and other forms of gender-based violence, and the work environment and health of staff and students at Umeå University. The report is based on a national study of the prevalence of sexual harassment in academia conducted within the framework of The Research and Collaboration Programme on Gender-based Violence. 

In answer to a direct question regarding whether the respondent had been subjected to unwanted sexual attention in their place of work/study, 2.2% of staff and 6.4% of students replied in the affirmative. Among women, prevalence is higher among female students than female employees, with 7% of this group having been subjected to such behaviour, and the same is true of men, with more male students (5.5%) reporting incidents. When the question of sexual harassment is broken down into specific situations and acts, the figure increases significantly, with as many as 51% of female employees and 29% of men stating that they had experienced at least one of the specified situations. Notably, levels among female employees of Umeå University are significantly higher than the figure for the Swedish higher education sector as a whole. The corresponding figure for students at Umeå University is, however, lower than the national average for the higher education sector, with 16% of women and 9% of men responding in the affirmative. 

There are also notable disparities between the sexes with regard to bullying, with twice as many women as men reporting problems, and reporting a higher frequency of offences. However, bullying is reported to a greater extent by male than female students. There are also gender disparities in incivility, with significantly more female employees reporting incidents than men. 

Sexism in the form of sexual harassment and gender-based violence can of course be understood as a means of academic reproduction; i.e., as one of the components that maintains and recreates the various structures, hierarchies and gender-inequitable workplaces in academia. As this study makes clear, sexual harassment and gender-based violence create a systematic and recurring pattern of unwelcome events that can be understood as institutional mechanisms and behaviours that risk being normalised. This also produces other problems in addition to gender inequality. In the study, we find clear correlations for both staff and students between sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence and experiences of the psychosocial and organisational work environment and health.

Sexuella trakasserier och andra typer av kränkande beteenden är allvarliga problem inom akademin. Det drabbar både studenter och anställda och förekommer inom alla discipliner. I denna studie tar vi hänsyn till utsatthetens olika former och uttryck genom att förutom sexuella trakasserier inkludera förekomst av mobbning, nätmobbning, kränkande särbehandling och ohövligt beteende under samlingsnamnet ’genusbaserad utsatthet’. 

Syftet med denna rapport är att beskriva förekomst av, och analysera samband mellan, sexuella trakasserier och andra former av genusbaserad utsatthet, samt arbetsmiljö och hälsa bland anställda och studenter vid Umeå universitet. Till grund för denna rapport ligger en nationell prevalensstudie om sexuella trakasserier i akademin som genomfördes inom ramen för Forsknings- och samverkansprogrammet om sexuella trakasserier och genusbaserad utsatthet. 

På en direkt fråga om respondenten blivit utsatt för icke önskvärd sexuell uppmärksamhet på sitt arbete/sin studieplats så rapporterar totalt 2,2 procent av de anställda och 6,4 procent av studenter att de blivit utsatta. Prevalensen är högre bland kvinnorna i gruppen studenter där 7 procent har utsatts och dessutom är utsatta män (5,5 procent) vanligare bland studenter jämfört med anställda. När frågan om sexuella trakasserier istället bryts ner i frågor om konkreta situationer och handlingar stiger siffrorna betydligt, uppemot hela 51 procent för anställda kvinnor svarade jakande på om de utsatts för minst en av de uppräknade situationerna och 29 procent av männen svarade också ja på dessa frågor. Noterbart här är att nivåerna för anställda kvinnor vid Umeå universitet är betydligt högre i jämförelse med högskolesektorn som helhet. Vad gäller studenterna så är motsvarande siffror vid Umeå universitet dock lägre jämfört med högskolesektorn som helhet, vid frågor om konkreta situationer och handlingar, 16 procent för kvinnorna och 9 procent för männen. 

Könsskillnader är även noterbara i avseende på mobbning, där andelen anställda som utsatts för mobbning är dubbelt så stor bland kvinnorna jämfört med männen samt att kvinnorna rapporterar högre frekvens. Bland studenterna rapporterar dock män en högre utsatthet vad gäller mobbning. Det finns även könsskillnader kring ohövligt beteende där betydligt fler bland de anställda kvinnorna rapporterar utsatthet jämfört med männen. 

Sexism i form av sexuella trakasserier och genusbaserad utsatthet kan förstås som ett medel för akademins reproduktion, det vill säga, som en utav de beståndsdelar som upprätthåller och återskapar akademins olika strukturer, hierarkier och ojämlika arbetsplatser. I denna studie blir det tydligt att sexuella trakasserier och genusbaserad utsatthet skapar ett systematiskt och upprepat mönster av ovälkomna händelser. Det kan förstås som institutionella mekanismer och beteenden som härigenom riskerar att normaliseras. Förutom ojämlikhet finns här även andra problem som produceras. I studien finns för både anställda och studenter tydliga samband mellan sexuella trakasserier, de andra formerna av genusbaserad utsatthet och upplevelsen av psykosocial och organisatorisk arbetsmiljö samt hälsa.

Abstract –  Objectives:  In Sweden, many patients with symptoms allegedly caused by their dental materials have exchanged their restorations, but the effects of the exchange have been insufficiently investigated. Therefore, the aim of the study was to describe the change in health over time for these patients and the hypothesis was that the patients could be divided based on their symptoms and that the ability to recover differs between these groups. Furthermore, we also examined if other factors such as replacement of dental restorative materials and follow-up time had any impact on the perceived health status.

Methods:  A questionnaire was sent to 614 patients who had been referred to the School of Dentistry, Umeå, Sweden, with symptoms allegedly caused by dental restorative materials. The response rate was 55%.

Results:  The risk of having any further complaints was higher for patients with complex symptoms (P = 0.03) and these patients had exchanged their restorations to a significantly larger extent than the others (P = 0.03). The remaining complaints was more frequent among men (P = 0.02). Exchange of dental restorative materials had no significant impact on the ability to recover completely. However, the patients who had exchanged their restorations completely perceived a significantly larger alleviation of their symptoms than the others (P < 0.01), although the frequency of most of the symptoms had increased.

Conclusions:  Patients with complex symptoms had a more unfavorable long-term prognosis concerning persistent complaints than those with localized symptoms only. Furthermore, the results indicate that the patients might experience health improvements after removal of their dental restorative materials. The reason for this improvement, however, is unclear. Further analyses regarding other possible explanations than the ‘odontological/medical’ are needed.

A follow-up questionnaire focusing medical and social status, actions taken and personality traits was sent to 239 patients with Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) registered at the University Hospital in Umea, Sweden. The response rate was 79 percent. As females constituted 92 percent of the respondents all statistical analyses were restricted to women. Almost half of the respondents had been exposed to environments with visible water damages. Fatigue, irritated eyes and facial erythema were the most common symptoms. Nearly half of the patients claimed that the symptoms were more or less unchanged after 7 years or more. Twenty-five percent of the patients were on the sick-list and twenty percent drew disability pension due to SBS-symptoms at follow-up. Symptoms were often aggravated in different situations in everyday life. No important deviations concerning personality factors were found. The results support that early and comprehensive measures for rehabilitation are essential for these patients.

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to measure coping resources and self-image in patients with visual display terminal (VDT)-related skin symptoms and hypersensitivity to electricity (HE).

Methods: From 1980 to 1998, 350 patients with electrical sensitivity were registered. The patients were subdivided into two groups: patients with skin symptoms evoked by VDTs, television screens, and fluorescent-light tubes and patients with so-called hypersensitivity to electricity with multiple symptoms evoked by exposure to different electrical environments. A questionnaire was sent to all patients and contained the coping resources inventory (CRI) and the structural analysis of social behaviour (SASB) in order for us to measure coping resources and self-image, respectively. The CRI and SASB scores were compared with those of control groups. Two hundred and fifty respondents (73%) returned the questionnaire, 200 (78.5% women) in the VDT group and 50 (62% women) in the HE group.

Results: The patient group rated high on the CRI spiritual/philosophical scale and high on the SASB spontaneous, positive and negative clusters but low on the controlled cluster. The female patients scored high on the CRI emotional scale. The VDT group rated lower than the controls on the SASB controlled cluster and higher on both the positive and negative cluster. The HE group scored higher than the control group on the SASB spontaneous and positive clusters. The women in the HE group scored higher on the CRI cognitive and CRI total scale than the VDT group and control group and higher on the CRI emotional scale than the controls. The women in the HE group rated higher than both the women in the VDT and control groups on the SASB spontaneous and positive clusters.

Conclusions: The deviant self-image found in these patients, especially the female HE patients, support the view that VDT and HE symptoms can be stress related. In the clinic, a trustful alliance should be established with the patient in order for a more realistic view to be achieved of the capacity.