Adult education has largely demonstrated to contribute to the empowerment of women and, specially, of women from vulnerable groups (Sen, 1999; English & Peters, 2006; UN 2008;  Iñiguez et al. 2020). In fact, the very concept of womens’ empowerment entails a complex set of knowledge, skills and possibilities not only to understand the world but also to exercise individual and collective agency, and education becomes a major force of this process in connection to economic, political. and psychological dimensions (Stromquist, 2015). Yet, while feminist activism was at the origin of many basic education initiatives (Ruiz, 2010),  the success of being integrated in mainstreaming education has also led to the undermining of the empowerment perspective, replacing feminist emancipatory goals by a more utilitarian and technical vision of adult education (UNESCO, 2019; English & Irving, 2015). 

The accumulated evidence reveals that key features for adult education programs to contribute as expected to the empowerment of women include engaging participants in dialogue and critical thinking about gender norms and supporting individual and collective agency in a safe space (Stromquist, 2006). While classroom experience is important, gender issues are learned, discussed and transformed beyond that, in the way in which each centre is organised, provide spaces for all women voices, encourages deliberative decision-making and becomes a gender, sex and sexuality sensitive community. In this regard, the whole space of an adult education setting would be expected to be sensitive and promote agency against any form of sexual and gender violence or harassment. However,  research on how adult education take a stand against gender violence and sexual harassment in its own environments is very scarce. This contrasts with the literature dealing with sexual harassment prevention in higher education institutions (Wood et.al 2021) and even primary and secondary schools (Storer et al 2017). 

This paper aims to contribute to this issue through the analysis of the actions promoted in an adult education school against sexual harassment. Our study is part of the research project The empowerment of all women through adult education for a sustainable development (ALL WOMEN)  developed by an interdisciplinary research team from different universities and is focused on identifying actions that, from the adult learning and education (formal and non-formal), are contributing to the empowerment of all women. The research team aims at providing evidence of the social impact of those actions and identifying those characteristics that make them replicable and transferable to other contexts, also contributing to diversify the demands and profiles of feminism. We explore the features of this specific measure and the extent in which it contributes to women empowerment. 

Our study consists on a qualitative case study (Yin, 2014) designed to explore in depth a set of actions that have been implemented to prevent and tackle any form of sexual harassment in the Verneda Adult school. The Verneda school was launched as a popular education initiative decades ago in a highly deprived area in Barcelona, Spain, and has become a reference of community education and social transformation (Aubert et.al. 2016). Data collection involved (a) review of internal documents regarding the sexual harassment policy and committee; (b) communicative observations of 4 spaces of participation in which the policy has been presented; and (c) interviews to 6 women with different roles in the adult school (social educator, participant and involved in the committee, participants at different courses). Data collection fulfilled ethic issues about confidentiality, informed consent, and rapport establishment. An inductive analysis of documents content and verbatim transcription of interviews allowed the emergence of themes (e.g. functioning, organization, values, participant reactions, multicultural issues). Both data collection and analysis were conducted under the communicative methodology of research (Puigvert, Gómez & Flecha, 2011) involving an egalitarian dialogue between researchers and adult participants in the Verneda School as a way to co-create scientific knowledge.

Our analysis from documents, observations and interviews reveal some main findings: The protocol of sexual harassment prevention and intervention at the school centre is evidence-based (from research on other educational settings such as higher education). There is a proactive dissemination of the protocol in all areas of the school (e.g. start-of-course days, classes, enrolment interviews). Open discussion of the policy and protocol generates a culture of rejection of all forms of sexual harassment. Participants perceive that open discussion of the protocol prevents unwanted behaviours. A key feature of the committee against sexual harassment is the diversity of their members, including participants (adult learners). In cases that have actually occurred, the activated protocol has effectively provided support to the victim and led to appropriate measures towards the person with unwelcome conduct. The actions and the way in which these are implemented actively contribute to the empowerment of all women, leading to changes in their active role in both the school and other (family, social) spheres. The analysed actions are likely to be replicated in other adult education settings, as a way of ensuring safe environments at all levels of education, reinforcing the UN goal of offering educational opportunities to all women, and recognising that they are the leading actors in their own transformation processes and the development of their communities, contributing in turn to diversify the profiles and demands of feminism.

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