Gender-Based Violence Against Women in Universities of Greece: Attitudes, Victimization, and Help-Seeking

Gender-based violence (GBV) in higher education is increasingly recognized as a systemic problem across offline and online contexts, yet the pathways linking gender-related attitudes, victimization, and formal help-seeking remain insufficiently understood in Southern Europe. This study examined whether Sexual Harassment/Assault and Coercive Control mediate associations between ambivalent sexism, Acceptance of Dating Violence, Perceived Behavioral Control, and Formal Help-Seeking Intentions among women students in Greek higher education. An anonymous online survey was completed by 550 women students, and structural equation modeling tested direct, mediated, and multi-group associations by age, education level, and perceived financial situation. Coercive Control was the strongest predictor of Formal Help-Seeking Intentions, followed by Acceptance of Dating Violence and Perceived Behavioral Control, whereas Hostile and Benevolent Sexism had no significant direct effects. Mediation analyses showed that Coercive Control, rather than Sexual Harassment/Assault, provided the more consistent pathway to help-seeking intentions. Multi-group analyses indicated broadly stable patterns, with selected differences by age, education, and financial situation. The findings suggest that university GBV policies should move beyond incident-based responses, address patterned Coercive Control, and improve students’ perceived ability to access formal support services.