{"id":163504,"date":"2024-01-25T13:46:56","date_gmt":"2024-01-25T12:46:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=163504"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:08","slug":"hamer-on-transgressive-behaviour-in-higher-education-first-year-students-should-receive-sex-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2024\/01\/25\/hamer-on-transgressive-behaviour-in-higher-education-first-year-students-should-receive-sex-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Hamer on transgressive behaviour in higher education: ‘First-year students should receive sex education’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sexually transgressive behaviour is more common than higher education institutions realise, warns government commissioner Mari\u00ebtte Hamer, who is calling for sex education for first-year students. \u201cThat\u2019s when they start experimenting”, according to Hamer.<\/p>\n

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In preparing a new recommendation to the government, Mari\u00ebtte Hamer spoke to both victims and perpetrators of sexually transgressive behaviour and sexual violence in higher education. She also spoke to students, experts and representatives of higher education institutions.<\/p>\n

As a special government commissioner tasked with combatting sexually transgressive behaviour and sexual violence, Hamer has been advising the government since 2022. She was appointed in response to the widely publicised allegations of sexual misconduct behind the scenes at the TV programme The Voice of Holland.<\/p>\n

In her recommendation, which was published today, Hamer sets out the problems in higher education. She also argues that the low number of formal reports being filed \u2013 just 300 in 2022 \u2013 does not reflect reality. According to her, there is a \u201cworrying discrepancy between the number of reports and the (estimated) actual number of incidents\u201d.<\/p>\n

Half of young women<\/h2>

As Hamer writes in her letter to the government: \u201cHalf of women aged 18 to 24 experienced some form of sexually transgressive behaviour last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although these incidents usually don\u2019t happen on campus, many of them do. In other instances, the perpetrators are fellow students, meaning the institution in question has a role to play regardless of where the misconduct occurred. But none of this is evident from the limited number of formal complaints.<\/p>\n

The response to a report of sexually transgressive behaviour or sexual violence is often rather procedural and legalistic, and aftercare for victims is \u201cminimal or absent\u201d, Hamer writes. As a result, complaint procedures sometimes do victims more harm than good.<\/p>\n

Moreover, a variety of factors increase the risk of problems, such as strong hierarchies, one-to-one working relationships, uncertainty due to temporary contracts, high workloads and cutthroat competition. At universities, PhD students and postdocs in particular suffer the consequences of this working climate, Hamer notes.<\/p>\n\n\t

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