In 11 days of operation, a channel in which students can report cases of harassment and misconduct at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon received more than 50 complaints, referring to 31 professors: the equivalent of almost 10% of the professors and assistants of the University of Lisbon. institution, one of the most traditional in Portugal.
Among the complaints, which can appear in more than one category, there are 29 of moral harassment, 22 of sexual harassment, 8 of sexist practices, 5 of xenophobia and racism (including Brazilian victims) and 1 of homophobia. More than half refer to seven teachers — and one of them has nine complaints.
The content of the report that compiles the data was revealed by the newspaper Diário de Notícias. The document states that there are “serious and repeated problems of sexual and moral harassment perpetrated by teachers”.
Most episodes took place on the institution’s premises, but there were also reports of online harassment. Several students claim to have been approached with inappropriate messages by a teacher on social media.
The reports had great repercussion in Portugal, as the college formed important names in local political life. The prime minister, António Costa, studied at the institution, where he was a student of the current president of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
In a note, the Minister of Science and Higher Education, Elvira Fortunato, classified the reports as worrying and reinforced her willingness to investigate the allegations. The University of Lisbon is a public institution. “Higher education institutions are spaces of freedom and promotion of the values of equality and respect, without any type of discrimination on grounds of gender, sexual orientation, nationality or any other, and they must not condone situations that violate these principles,” he said. Is it over there.
Student associations, including the Movement Against Sexual Harassment in the Academic Environment, called a demonstration for this Thursday (7), in front of the rectory.
The communication channel for receiving complaints was opened by the faculty, after reports of harassment that reached the pedagogical council. The institution created a page and provided an email address to receive complaints; between March 14 and 25, 70 complaints arrived, of which 50 were validated.
The reports were described anonymously in the report, but victims of episodes of xenophobia and racism by teachers are known to include Brazilian and African students.
In April 2019, the college was already at the center of a controversy with xenophobia against Brazilians, albeit involving an academic association. On the occasion, a satirical collective placed, in the college entrance hall, a box with stones next to the sign “Free to shoot a zuca [jeito pejorativo para designar brasileiro]”.
The episode triggered protests from the Brazilian community, which reported cases in several Portuguese universities. Brazilians are the main nationality among foreign students in Portugal, which since 2014 has started to facilitate the enrollment of students from other countries — 51 institutions accept the Enem (National High School Exam) as a form of admission.
Representative of the International Students collective in Portugal, Carol Napolitano says that the situations revealed by the complaints at the Faculty of Law are not surprising, especially in relation to foreign students. The association has collected, on its own initiative, testimonies of situations of harassment and inappropriate conduct in universities.
“Most of the reports we receive are related to xenophobia, such as linguistic prejudice and discrimination. They are teachers who do not accept papers and tests written in the Portuguese used in Brazil or who make fun of expressions”, he says.
According to her, many students end up withdrawing from the complaints for fear of retaliation. “Many universities also don’t make clear the reporting channels and procedures for dealing with them, so the fear of exposure or persecution only increases. International students feel vulnerable and helpless.”
A student at the University of Lisbon, in the architecture course, Bárbara Magalhães from Minas Gerais says she has already given up filing a complaint against a professor because of the lack of support from the institution. When looking for information on the college’s website, she says she found little guidance on how to concretely proceed in episodes involving professors.
“The conversation about harassment and discrimination still needs to take place more seriously, and there needs to be more awareness among teachers. Talking to colleagues, I noticed that it is something very ingrained, many should not even realize that they are practicing moral harassment”, he says.
When contacted, the University of Lisbon and the Faculty of Law did not respond to the report until the publication of this text. On Tuesday (5), the college announced the creation of a legal support and advice office for victims of harassment and discrimination.
