The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, on Tuesday announced a decree that provides psychological support for victims of harassment and sexual violence in higher education.
The diploma also extends “the scope of application of codes of good conduct to prevent and combat harassment to all members of the academic community,” according to a statement published on the official website of the President of the Republic on Tuesday.
The diploma was the result of the Livre bill approved in Parliament, which specifies that victims should have psychological and psychotherapeutic support services, “using individual or group intervention methodologies and based on specialized approaches such as trauma-informed psychotherapeutic approaches, positive or cognitive behavioral approaches.” . therapy”.
Behind them were proposals such as Chega or Bloco de Esquerda, which advocated changes to the Penal Code to increase penalties for sexual harassment and introduce the crime of sexual harassment.
The initiatives of the political parties came shortly after the controversy surrounding allegations of sexual and moral harassment involving the famous researcher of the Center for Social Studies (CES) of the University of Coimbra, Boaventura Sousa Santos.
A survey carried out by Lusa in April found that more than 150 complaints had been made to institutions in the north and south of the country in the past year alone.
The 19 responding institutions – eleven universities and eight polytechnics – reported receiving 154 complaints of sexual and moral harassment, “pedagogical problems” and cases of discrimination.
The responses showed that so far only two institutions have punished the alleged bullies responsible for four complaints: three teachers and one student.
Last year, dozens of allegations of harassment and discrimination were also made at the University of Lisbon’s Faculty of Law, according to a report by the institution’s Teaching Council.
In the following weeks, new cases emerged at other institutions, and the phenomenon came into the spotlight again this year after new cases were published at CES.
In April, the Higher Education Minister said services had received 38 complaints of sexual harassment over the past five years, of which only four resulted in sanctions.
Back in 2022, the government recommended that institutions create reporting channels and codes of ethics and conduct, but another study by Lusa in April this year found that few institutions were already using these tools, with processes still ongoing in many cases. their embryonic stage.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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