2023-06-28 07:15:00
The study on gender violence was carried out in 16 universities in the country. Photo: Freepik
Harassment, offensive comments about the physical appearance y assaults such as hair pulling and other attacks. Some or several of these situations have been experienced by students, teachers and administrative staff from 16 Ecuadorian universities. This was shown in a study on gender-based violence against women.
The evaluation showed that bullying and psychological aggressions have been the most recurrent in these spaces.
These are cases of violence against women and people who self-identify as part of the Lgbtiq+ community.
The information was collected in the document From evidence to prevention: how to prevent violence against women in Ecuadorian universities.
The initiative is part of the program to Prevent Violence against Women (Previmujer) of the GIZ organization. The San Martín de Porres University of Peru also collaborated
In total, interviews were conducted with 23,261 students and more than 4,000 teachers and workers in administrative areas of 16 higher educational institutions in the country.
Women confessed to having been victims of violence
33.7% of the students surveyed confessed to having suffered some type of violence from their partner or ex-partner, at some point in their relationship, since they were in college. universidad.
Statistics confirm that the violence against women does exist in the field of higher education. This is what Deyanira Moreta, lawyer and founder of the Sororas Violetas collective that supports the dissemination of this report, comments.
The activist also refers to the number of days (about 29) that a woman loses in productivity after being a victim of gender violence.
Something more alarming, adds Moreta, is that a significant percentage confessed to having witnessed some type of violence and did not act to prevent it. “That shows that as a society we are not doing anything,” she insists.
The study reflects that 58% of the female students interviewed indicated that they had been this type of witness. In the case of male students, that amount is 57%.
The Lgbtiq+ community remains vulnerable
But there is something revealing in the report, it is the number of violations against people of the Lgbtiq community+, within the universities.
For example, four out of 10 students who self-identify in this group reported having experienced some type of violence. Acts committed between students, from teachers or even with administrative staff and at least 15 times a year.
Just as two out of 10 students from the same group confessed to having been harassed with offensive comments about their body, appearance or sexuality.
These results help to give visibility to cases of violence of this type, says Nicole Abad, female activist and Lgbtiq+ who experienced this type of violence firsthand when he studied at the university.
She currently coordinates projects from the University Feminist Coalition, which support the victims who experience this type of violence.
Nicole’s testimony
“I have ato couple. And one of my teachers liked her and he started harassing her. Then she told him no, don’t mind that she has a girlfriend who was me. He (teacher) found out that I was the girlfriend and began to retaliate with me.
He erased grades for me, left me with extras and that affected the academic scholarship par excellence that I had. If I stayed on the extra, I lost the competition with other students and finally I lost my scholarship.
On top of that there was a lot of bullying with insults that he said, without naming them as such. I mean, he didn’t dare say haha you’re a lesbian. Rather, he would say things like: ‘you, mijita, who works in these strange medium things, or who does things on the left, or who is different from the rest.
And that in all classes unnecessarily in all classes and in front of my classmates. And in another case it also happened to me with another teacher, in a virtual class.
In a class he unnecessarily asked about my partner. She told me, if you have a boyfriend, if you have a boyfriend, do they buy you things? And I tell him, no, I have a girlfriend. Some of my companions were silent, others laughed. And that created an uncomfortable environment for everyone.”
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