A Feminist Activist Research to mainstream awareness of gender-related violence in universities through photovoice

Abstract

ABSTRACT Sexual and gender-related violences (SeGReV) is more normalised in the university community than we might expect, even though there have been important changes in HEI politics and policies in this sense. Therefore, sensitisation is essential. In this paper, we present multidisciplinary international research that, implicating around 40 university teachers and 300 students, aimed to approach this necessity through the design and evaluation of an innovative pedagogical protocol. Our text serves two purposes: to reflect on the effectiveness of photovoice to increase the student’s awareness of SeGReV; and to introduce and exemplify the specificity of Feminist Activist Research (FAR), a methodological approach that rises from the intersection of Action Research, Activist Research and Feminist epistemology. We will show how the applied approach of our project, the production of training materials, and other disseminative actions, proved to be a valuable practice for increasing the SeGReV awareness of university students. In this sense, becomes clear that photovoice can be an important ally, as it is an extremely useful technique both on a pedagogical level and as a research instrument. Last but not least, we exemplify the adequacy and peculiarity of FAR as a research approach.