Sexual Violence in Higher Education: A Critical Discourse Analysis of University Policies

As sexual violence has become increasingly visible in public discourse, scholarly research across disciplines has begun to critically examine how such cases are handled, ranging from the investigation processes, media reporting, and how the accused and accusing parties are impacted. While much of the existing linguistic research makes an important contribution to our understanding of the role of language in interpreting and evaluating sexual violence by focusing on the narrations of specific cases, one area of discourse that remains unexamined is that which is produced by those responsible for defining sexual violence and the protocols for investigating such cases. This study examines discourse on sexual violence found in US university policies and specifically focuses on contrasts between different discourse participants (i.e., faculty and students). Findings reveal that university policies frequently produce disparate discourse for students and employees that rarely acknowledge the hierarchical nature of faculty–student relationships. Given the increasing visibility of public discourse on sexual aggression and the power that such discourse has in influencing audiences, analyzing the linguistic strategies used to construct victims and perpetrators is crucial to our understanding of the various ways that sexual violence perpetuates injustice.