POSTED BY MARTIN KICH
The 13 July 2018 issue of University World News includes Maria Elena Hurtado’s article “Ten Universities Still Occupied in Fight to End Machismo”:
The so-called ‘feminist wave’, started in mid-April, that took over by force 22 Chilean universities or faculties in demand for improved sexual harassment protocols, better conditions for female students and an end to ‘machismo’ is on the wane but far from over. Last Monday 74 days of feminist occupation of Universidad de Chile’s law faculty ended but 10 universities, mainly state ones, are still under student occupation . . .
On 8 July female students at the Santiago-based Universidad Tecnológica Metropolitana (UTEM) carried out a quick takeover of the university. It led them to ask for the resignation of Luis Pinto, UTEM’s rector, because instead of confronting them he allegedly hid in his office–although the rector denies this–and had called female student negotiators “dictators.”
This July the rector of Universidad de Santiago de Chile terminated the contract of Pablo Vera, a doctor in psychology, accused by four psychologists, all ex-students, of sexual harassment and abuse. . . .
The feminist takeover is also over at private Universidad Central de Chile after investigations of sexual abuse and harassment were opened for 14 academics; they were banned from teaching for two weeks.
Classes were reinitiated at Universidad Diego Portales after its authorities agreed to 29 of 32 student demands, including using gender inclusive, non-sexist language, creating a gender department, instituting special rules for students who are mothers or fathers, and respecting the ‘social’ name of transgender students.
Classes were also restarted at Universidad Austral de Chile in Southern Chile after two months. The agreement reached includes the creation of a gender, diversity and non-discrimination observatory. . . .
The Ministry of Education published on 4 July a ‘map’ of gender equity in higher education, which provides a snapshot of the strength of female students in Chilean universities. The study finds that 63% of Chilean undergraduates are female plus women also have more MAs than their male counterparts. Men however dominate when it comes to PhDs and academic posts.
On the downside, only a third of Chile’s 59 universities have sexual abuse protocols, according to the ministry’s document.
Hurtado’s complete article is available at: http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20180713204324675.
In the same issue of University World News, Alma Maldonado-Maldonado and Felicitas Acosta’s article “Women Are Increasingly Challenging Campus Machismo” also appeared. It includes detailed, illustrative discussions of current conditions for female academics in Mexico and Argentina, as well as the following general observations:
In Latin America, the gender gap in education is not as pronounced as in other regions of the world: in 2013, higher education enrolment was about 13.15 million women versus 10.44 million men.
Access is not a significant issue, but other problems demand attention, for instance, what types of higher education institutions and programmes women are able to access, women’s drop-out rate due to youth pregnancy and disparities regarding the labour market as well as salaries.
There are three primary areas of concern in current debates regarding gender and harassment: disparities between men and women concerning the most prestigious and best paid positions in academia and administration; sexual harassment suffered by female college students; and female faculty falling victim to abuse of power by men in higher positions. . . .
Clearly, the situation in Latin America regarding violence and discrimination against women needs much more attention and calls for the development of protocols as well as a continuing discussion about how to increase equal opportunities in academia, universities and the labour market.
In the case of higher education institutions, there seems to be a convergence between groups of activists demanding public attention to particular cases–mainly with the help of social networks and mass media–and authorities, who cannot ignore the victims any longer.
This could be a signal that higher education institutions are moving to change their policies in order to prevent sexual harassment from happening and to shape policies to solve the disparities between women and men at all levels.
Both students and faculty are more aware of their rights and limits. This is good news for the region, but it also means a major challenge for higher education institutions.
Maldonado-Maldonado and Acosta’s complete article is available at: http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20180711134740581.
