Sexual and sexist harassment in Spanish universities: policy implementation and resistances against gender equality measures

The legal mandate to mainstream gender equality in Spain’s universities has led the establishment of units and adoption policy plans protocols against sexual harassment. This research looks at how policies have been implemented within what resisting facilitating factors hindered promoted their implementation. These questions are addressed by studying implementation ‘Protocol sexist harassment’ biggest public Spanish university, Madrid Complutense University. Through a combination content analysis, interviews, survey involving university community, we show harassment is dependent on (obstacles/resistances) favour (opportunities/alliances). include form institutionalization that took existing formal informal institutions, inertial resistances, prevailing ideas about equality. We argue protocol was impeded scant awareness prevalence daily life, concomitant acceptance, academic phenomenon as ‘normal’ practice.