Initiative to End Sexual and Gender Harassment, Harm, and Violence

Steering Committee : 
  • Elizabeth Armstrong, Sherry B. Ortner Collegiate Professor of Sociology
  • Lilia Cortina, University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor of Psychology, Women’s and Gender Studies, and Management and Organizations
  • Lisa Fedina, Associate Professor of Social Work
  • Michelle Munro-Kramer, Associate Professor of Nursing, , Department of Health Behavior & Biological Sciences, and Director of Global Programs
  • Rich Tolman, Sheldon D. Rose Collegiate Professor of Social Work
  • Yasamin Kusunoki, Associate Professor, Department of Systems, Populations and Leadership, School of Nursing
Tags: 
sexual harassment
faculty research

 

Mission Statement:
The University of Michigan Initiative to End Sexual and Gender Harassment, Harm, and Violence is committed to interdisciplinary research, education, and practice to foster safe and inclusive social environments. Our approach is grounded in principles of intersectionality and social justice. We believe profound transformation comes from altering systems, communities, and organizations, rather than individuals alone.

Vision:
Our vision is to cultivate safe and respectful communities and organizations free of Sexual and Gender Harassment, Harm, and Violence.

What We Do:
The Initiative to End Sexual and Gender Harassment, Harm, and Violence

  1. engages in interdisciplinary research
  2. translates research to practice
  3. conducts training and education
  4. incubates relationships, leadership capacity, and community partnerships
  5. provides local, national, international leadership on research, education, and practice for the public good.
  6. transforms systems/environments/organizations

in service of prevention and responding to Sexual and Gender Harassment, Harm, and Violence.

Principles/Values:
Survivor-centered
Accountability
Empowerment
Ecellence
Ethnical imagination
Innovation

History:
This initiative is the culmination of faculty coming together to address harm and violence related to gender and sexuality. The group is unique in that there is specific attention to systems and organizations rather than individual-level factors alone, and there is an expertise at the setting/context levels of higher education, medical field/hospitals, and community organizations. The group’s beginnings co-occur with the #MeToo movement, and while the movement has shaped international, national, and local responses to sexual and gender harm, it’s important to note that the faculty in this group were doing work in this area long before the more contemporary movement. 

In 2017, a group coalesced out of a desire to better understand the enduring problem of gender-based violence through an interdisciplinary lens. In May 2018, they sponsored a Michigan Meeting (a discontinued university initiative that organized interdisciplinary themed conferences) to bring together researchers, activists, students, and community-based organizations. Since summer 2018, IRWG has provided administrative support and research development to the initiative. Through a special Seed Grant program in 2019, IRWG awarded funding for five faculty research projects on sexual harassment and gender violence. Additionally, IRWG has coordinated brainstorming sessions with initiative members and the Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research (MICHR) to develop a collaborative research agenda.  

Starting in the Fall of 2022 the group began hosting monthly research incubators to showcase the work of faculty and staff across the three U-M campuses related to gender-based violence. At this time, the initiative also began working closely with PEAR in organizing the May 2023 Conference on Ending Sexual Harassment and Gender-Based Violence with the theme of “Healing, Change, and Transformation.” 

To continue the initiative’s goal of creating a center on campus, a cohort of interdisciplinary faculty (Elizabeth Armstrong, Lilia Cortina, Lisa Fedina, Michelle Munro-Kramer, Rich Tolman, and Yasamin Kusunoki) applied for, and were awarded, a university Boost Grant for the 2023-2024 academic year. This funding allowed for the continuation of the monthly research incubators and work on identifying a clear name, mission, and vision for the group.

This group continues to organize research sessions and public events, including ongoing webinars, workshops, and a May 2025 conference.

Join the listserv to receive public event announcements and workshop invitations by emailing GBVSH-research-requests@umich.edu