Universities still have barriers to combat harassment – 03/10/2023 – Daily life

Even after the repercussion of movements in the wake of MeToo and greater awareness of the importance of dealing with cases of harassment and gender discrimination, Brazilian universities still face barriers in combating violence against women and other groups.

In recent years, several public teaching and research institutions have created codes of ethics and resolutions that address issues involved in gender violence, such as support for victims who report harassment (sexual or moral) or discrimination.

But, in practice, the perception is that the resolution, in most cases, is still decentralized, takes a long time and presents still inefficient measures for welcoming victims.

For Luanna Tomaz, professor at the UFPA Law School (Federal University of Pará) and coordinator of the Clinic for Attention to Violence and the Study and Research Group on Criminal Law and Democracy, the main difficulty faced in public education spaces is the institutional response.

“Very often universities do not know what to do in the face of a report of harassment and end up taking disastrous measures, or take a long time to act”, he says.

She cites, for example, agreements for the victim to no longer attend classes during a period, but this is insufficient. “The ideal would be for them to feel that the universities are a safe environment for verification”, she assesses.

According to Tomaz, it is commendable that several universities in Brazil have formulated internal resolutions with regard to discrimination and harassment, but such actions still need to be put into practice. “UFPA itself has a resolution [de enfrentamento de discriminação, assédios e violência]but many go towards naming what violence and harassment are, but not how to face it”, he says.

An example of how to make measures more effective is to strengthen the ombudsman offices that receive complaints of harassment and the committees that investigate these cases.

Difficulty in obtaining evidence is also a constant complaint, as many of the committees weigh “one’s word against the other.” “Often, the aggressor has full access to the investigation records and is present at the hearings, something that violates the Penal Code, which says that if the victim does not feel comfortable being in the presence of the aggressor, he can be removed from the room”, he says. Thomas.

In this sense, strengthening reception spaces, including initiatives by women’s groups and collectives —as well as black movements, LGBTQIA+ and people with disabilities— is essential to help support victims.

One of these initiatives is the Kunhã Asé Network (it reads “cunhã axé” and combines “woman” in Guarani and “força” in Yoruba), a collective of more than 30 women formed at the UFBA (Federal University of Bahia) Biology Institute. .

Luisa Diele-Viegas, a herpetologist (a scientist who studies reptiles and amphibians), a member of the network and a professor at UFBA, points out that victims are often discredited and there is a lack of effective measures to punish the aggressors.

She cites that the justification of some accused of “lack of knowledge” of what is or is not considered harassment has no place in 2023. “Today there is wide access to documents, resolutions and codes of conduct that provide access to information on what is considered harassment, so that’s not a justification,” he says.

For the anthropologist and researcher at UnB (University of Brasilia) Debora Diniz, it is important that, in addition to a space for receiving and investigating complaints, universities provide a guarantee of protection. “The university needs to be agile at the time of the complaint to guarantee victim protection systems, even if the evaluation process, which is the right of everyone who suffers an accusation, is longer”, she reflects.

This guarantee is important due to the fact that many of the complaints turn to discrediting the victim’s word or to the persecution that the woman may suffer when she makes the complaint, and this is even more aggravated when a single woman makes the report. “In many cases, it is common for several girls to have already announced in some way that there is a ‘perverted professor’ on campus, that they do not feel comfortable next to him, but when the administrative process begins, few complaints come to light, often for fear of retaliation or slander by the aggressor”, evaluates Tomaz, from UFPA.

The culture of the university environment also weighs. Diele-Viegas recalls that, without measures to support the entry and permanence of underrepresented groups in universities, there will be the perpetuation of sexist, racist and harassment comments.

“There is an academic, sexist, racist and homophobic bias, which assumes that minority groups have no place in academic spaces. Measures to promote the inclusion and permanence of these groups until they reach top positions are essential to reduce inequalities and minimize harassment suffered,” he says.

For Diniz, from UnB, the time needed to name what was experienced can work on a different scale than the disciplinary process. “Many times a discipline will be finished without it having had the courage to report it”, emphasizes Diniz.

The anthropologist reinforces that investigation spaces and disciplinary committees, which will apply censorship in cases where there has been proven harassment, are important, but actions cannot focus only on punishment. “There is also a fundamental character of universities, which is learning. It is also essential to bring up the debate on gender violence, putting ‘the finger in the wound'”, she proposes.

The report sought out some of the largest Brazilian universities and asked what measures were taken to face sexual harassment in their spaces. Read below:

USP (University of São Paulo) – In 2020, it created a care protocol for women victims of violence on campuses. This protocol, according to the university, is one of the actions of the USP Women office. One of the priorities of the department, led by geologist Adriana Alves, is to promote gender equality at the university.

Unesp (Paulista State University) – It informs that since 2022 it has been implementing a series of initiatives in the 34 campuses that are part of the university, such as the creation of a committee to welcome victims, an educational policy to face sexual and moral harassment and all forms of discrimination and prejudice in relation to to origin, color, gender, sexual orientation, religion or belief, socioeconomic level, physical or mental body condition, the creation of an application to help with sexual violence complaints and a support group for women.

Unicamp (State University of Campinas) – It published a resolution in 2020 that defines the rules and procedures for the prevention and reception of complaints of violence based on gender and sex. According to the norm, reports of sexual and gender violence are received by the Sexual Violence Service (SAVS) or by the Campi Experience Secretariat (SVC). The agency offers psychological, academic and police support to victims of sexual violence and can initiate, if the victim so wishes, an investigation or disciplinary process to investigate the complaint.

UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) – Established, on January 16, 2023, pursuant to Ordinance No. 438, the Women’s Ombudsman as an institutional space to welcome victims. According to the ordinance, complaints of harassment and discrimination received are registered in a computerized system and forwarded to the competent units for due investigation, with the authorization of the complainant. The Women’s Ombudsman also has the support of the Women’s Reference Center of UFRJ to offer psychosocial care to women in situations of gender violence who express interest in the service.

UFF (Fluminense Federal University) – It created the Permanent Commission for Gender Equity (Cpeg), which carries out propositional actions and also provides guidance to those who need it. The commission was born from the Women in Science Working Group, which has existed since 2018 and came into force in March last year.

UFMG (Federal University of Minas Gerais) – It has a booklet that guides how to recognize and report forms of harassment. Called “Harassment is a crime”, the booklet was produced by the Campus Health Commission of the university and by the team from the Communication Center of the Faculty of Medicine, with collaboration from the Communication Unit of the Hospital das Clínicas, the School of Nursing, and the Coletivo de Women Alzira Reis. The university also has an Ombudsman to receive complaints and a Human Rights Network to support measures to combat discrimination and violence on campus.

UFRGS (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul) – It has a specific policy to prevent and deal with cases of moral and sexual harassment, with actions to raise awareness, receive and forward complaints. It also highlights the Program for Attention to Women’s Health and Safety, which offers psychological and social assistance to victims; a training campaign for civil servants on preventing and coping with moral and sexual harassment; reporting channels through the Ombudsman, the Permanent Commission for Investigating Complaints (CPAD) and the Center for Attention to Women and Diversity (Nudem); and partnerships with external agencies, such as the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Public Defender’s Office to improve mechanisms for preventing and coping with harassment.

UTFPR (Federal Technological University of Paraná) – It has a Public Ethics Commission to receive, investigate and indicate penalties, complaints of ethical infractions, including sexual harassment, and has the autonomy to forward them to the competent bodies so that more in-depth investigations can be carried out. In addition, it claims to work to encourage the participation of women in science and academic management and has also studied the implementation of child support for students who have children aged between zero and six years and who are socioeconomically vulnerable.

UnB (University of Brasilia) – He claimed to have several mechanisms and instances to deal with sexual and psychological harassment, such as the Human Rights Secretariat, the Women’s Coordination and, within the scope of the Board of Directors of UnB, the Policy for the Prevention of Combating Moral Harassment is still under discussion, Sexuality, Discrimination and other violence. The UnB Ombudsman receives allegations of harassment and discrimination.

UFPE (Federal University of Pernambuco) – He informed that the channel for listening to cases of harassment is the Ombudsman and that the Ethics Commission and the Internal Affairs Service follow up the cases to arrive at a disciplinary administrative process and to act in an educational, consultative, preventive, conciliatory and investigative manner of the cases.

UFPA (Federal University of Pará) – In 2020, it created a resolution for the policy to deal with cases of discrimination, harassment and other forms of violence. Among the mentioned actions are the incentive of curricular activities that discuss the actions of gender equity; promote debates on violence and gender discrimination; preparation of informative materials and campaigns to combat discrimination, harassment and other forms of violence; and forwarding complaints.

UFBA (Federal University of Bahia) – Did not respond until the publication of this text.