Coordinator of the CRUCH Gender Equality Commission: “Eradicating gender violence is a task for the entire university community”

This November 25th (25 N) is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and the universities of the Council of Rectors and Rectors have organized various activities in the different regions of the country, including talks, seminars, discussions, walks, and poetry readings.

Angélica Marín, Coordinator of the Gender Equality Commission of the Council of Rectors and Rectors, maintains that all CRUCH institutions have comprehensive policies to address gender violence and discrimination and that, in addition, “most universities have gender equality policies, which are aimed at impacting training and research processes, other university policies and regulations, as well as aspects of social co-responsibility for care.”.

“On the occasion of the commemoration of November 25, the universities of CRUCH can celebrate that we have taken significant steps to eradicate gender violence and it is also a good opportunity to consider that the eradication of gender violence is a task for the entire university community,” says Angélica Marín, Coordinator of the Gender Equality Commission of the Council of Rectors.

“This year, 2022, all universities have comprehensive policies to address gender-based violence and discrimination, and, under the mandate of Law 21.369, we also have a prevention model and a sanction model,” explains the coordinator of the commission and Executive Secretary of the Gender and Sexualities Office at the Metropolitan University of Educational Sciences. “In this way, we hope to contribute to the eradication of gender-based violence in our university communities,” she adds.

The agendas of the CRUCH universities include a series of commemorative activities around November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, including talks, seminars, discussions, poetry readings, walks, and campaigns in university communities.

The activities, which began this week and will continue until the first week of December, can be reviewed in detail on the respective university websites, and a sample of them can also be found on the CRUCH Instagram account (highlighted stories): @consejoderectores

It is worth remembering that the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is November 25, a date established by the United Nations in 1999, in memory of Patria, Minerva and María Teresa Mirabal, three Dominican sisters murdered on November 25, 1960.

Progress of the CRUCH universities

During this year, the CRUCH universities have made considerable progress, not only in eradicating gender violence and discrimination, but also in gender equality policies.

Angélica Marín says that “it is very important to point out that the comprehensive policies that address gender violence and discrimination have been built in a participatory manner with members of the community from all three sectors and in an equal way.”.

As a result of this process, “specialized units have been created and communication strategies have been developed to publicize the existence of these policies and the protocols for action against gender violence. All of this is based on experience but also under the mandate of Law No. 21,369, which regulates sexual harassment, violence, and gender discrimination in higher education,” says Angélica Marín.

Part of the work developed by universities is reflected in the “Kaleidoscope Model: A proposal for addressing gender violence in a university context”, the result of the collaborative work of the members of the Gender Violence Eradication Axis of the commission and which was developed based on the experience and trajectory of the gender directorates and units of the universities.

In addition to specific policies to address gender violence, “most universities have gender equality policies, which are aimed at impacting training and research processes, other university policies and regulations, as well as aspects of social co-responsibility for care,” says the coordinator of the Gender Equality Commission.

“All these subjects contribute to promoting environments of gender equality and, above all, to promoting environments free of violence and gender discrimination,” says Angélica Marín.

UN UNiTE Campaign

As every year, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women marks the beginning of the UNiTE Campaign The UN's 16 days of activism, from November 25 to December 10, the end of which coincides with International Human Rights Day.

The 2022 campaign JOIN US! Activism to end violence against women and girls, Its objective is to mobilize all members of society to become activists, stand in solidarity with women's rights defenders, and support feminist movements around the world to prevent the erosion of women's rights and achieve a world free from gender-based violence.