On the Wrong Side: How Universities Protect Perpetrators and Betray Survivors of Sexual Violence is non-fiction book by Nicole Bedera.
Finished on: 22.1.2025

Content Note: rape, sexualized violence, sexualized harrassment, rape culture

„Plot“:
Bedera spent a year on the campus of a US-American university, looking at complaints of sexualized violence, their investigations and results. She consulted documentation, spoke to case managers, university management, victims and perpetrators. This research allows her to outline the narratives and systemic practices around these cases that usually center all around the risks of a false accusation against a perpetrator and rarely the actual harm done to the victims – even in cases where the evidence is clear or the perpetrator admits to what they have done.

On the Wrong Side is a harrowing, enraging read and an excellent peace of scholarship and research, highlighting so many different aspects that you’re bound to learn something new even when you have spent considerable time researching or directly working with rape culture and its effects.

I used to work at the DEI department of the University of Vienna for a while. And while I wasn’t directly responsible for cases of sexual harassment, some of my colleagues were involved in the process, and my team kicked off a big awareness campaign on the topic. There are certainly cultural differences between the USA and Austria, but I still felt like we could learn a lot from Bedera’s research.

Bedera clearly shows how easily institutional practices can become quasi abusive. Under the guise of justice and balance, perpetrators are afforded the same accomodations as victims – accomodations that were meant to protect the victims and acknowledge the lasting effect of the harms committed (like being able to drop classes without repercussions; or keeping the other person from enroling in the same classes). Misinformation, intransparent forms and procedures, unclear consequences – all with the goal of minimizing the number of complaints and the harshness of possible consequences. Staff members are quickly brought into line if they try to challange the practiced from within the system – and if they don’t fall in line, they are let go. And everything is done with the argument that they wouldn’t want to ruin an innocent man’s life (usually the perpetrators are men), all the while ignoring the impact the events have on the woman’s life (usually the vicitms are women). It’s jaw-dropping to see all these mechanisms condensed in the book.

Bedera not only did comprehensive research, she found an excellent structure for her book, basically walking us through the process and highlighting the obstacles for victims every step along the way: why they wouldn’t file a complaint; why they didn’t see the formal complaint through; what happened after the process was over. Each step is illustrated with a central example case (more examples are given, lest you think this was a one-time fluke). And it all boils down to a few core beliefs that thread their way through all cases.

It’s a book that makes you angry about the state of the world as you learn from it. In all its analysis it never forgets – and never let’s you forget, either – that this is about people. People who have been hurt – and that are hurt yet again by the institutions meant to protect them. Sometimes the latter is even more harmful than the former. It highlights the communal and institutional responsibility that too often gets lost along the way. Excellent work.

Summarizing: highly recommended!