“Those were sleepless nights. My hair began to fall out”: Brazilian MP accused Boaventura de Souza Santos of harassment

There is another woman accusing sociologist Boaventura Souza Santos of sexual harassment. Bella Gonçalves is the MP for the PSOL of the State of Minas Gerais. The Brazilian woman went public about being persecuted when Boaventura Souza Santos was a doctoral student at the Center for Social Studies at the University of Coimbra from 2013 to 2014.

“Once he asked to arrange a meeting at his apartment. He put his hand on my leg. He said that people close to him have many advantages and offered to deepen the relationship,” Bella Gonçalves told Agência Pública. .

“Abandoning the course in the second year meant both the loss of a doctoral degree and the need to return the scholarship intact,” the researcher recalls. “I had sleepless nights thinking about how many euros I would have to pay. My hair started to fall out. My mother said that I was crazy if I refused a scholarship abroad, ”he added.

Bella Gonçalves eventually gave up her PhD in Coimbra and returned to Brazil.

Boaventura Sousa Santos, as well as researcher Bruno Sena Martins, were suspended this Thursday from all positions at the Center for Social Research until the findings of the investigation are known.

Argentine researcher Moira Millan also accused Boaventura Sousa Santos of sexual harassment after three authors wrote a chapter in the book “Más Conduta Sexual na Academia” where they arouse suspicion at the University of Coimbra.