Gender Equality Commission
Within the framework of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the CRUCH Gender Equality Commission prepared a video He highlighted the progress made in universities, including institutional policies, action plans, regulations, protocols, specialized team support, and various prevention initiatives.
Regarding the challenges, the rector in charge of the commission, Fernanda Kri, states that "the focus we should have as universities of the Council of Rectors for the coming years is the mainstreaming of the gender approach in the curriculum.".
“Since the feminist movement of May 2018, the universities of the Council of Rectors of Chile have sought to accelerate progress in eradicating all forms of gender-based violence and discrimination.” Thus begins the video Prepared by the CRUCH Gender Equality Commission on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which is commemorated today, November 25.
The implementation of Law 21.369, which regulates sexual harassment, violence and gender discrimination in the field of higher education, has also contributed to generating significant progress.
Three years after the law's implementation, Fernanda Kri, Rector of the University of O'Higgins and head of the Gender Equality Commission, emphasizes that "the concern of the Council's universities for gender equality predates the law's enactment, and that's why we have made significant progress. Today, all universities have gender policies, offices, or gender departments that not only handle complaints but also work diligently on promotion and prevention, carrying out various initiatives to advance this issue, which ultimately represents a cultural shift." This change translates, for example, into the existence of protocols that have allowed "people to feel comfortable reporting incidents, knowing that these reports are accepted and processed with due process. I believe this brings peace of mind to our communities," the Rector stated.
Angélica Marín, coordinator of the CRUCH Gender Equality Commission and Executive Secretary of the Gender and Sexualities Office at the Metropolitan University of Educational Sciences (UMCE), emphasizes that specialized teams are available to address the issue, “and they have been gradually refining their contextualized approach within the universities.” She also notes that, within the framework of the prevention model, “a wide range of awareness-raising and training activities have been developed with various sectors of the university. As a result, several universities offer courses or curricular activities on gender-based violence prevention, which are included in their curricula or in specialized programs.”.
It is worth remembering that this date was established by the United Nations in 1999, in memory of Patria, Minerva and María Teresa Mirabal, three Dominican sisters assassinated on November 25, 1960.
The theme that the international organization defined for this year 2024 is «Every 10 minutes a woman is murdered. #NoHayExcusa. JOIN to end violence against women« Its aim is to mobilize all members of society in response to the alarming escalation of violence against women, as well as to revitalize commitments and demand accountability and concrete measures from decision-makers. See more here.
Assessment and upcoming challenges
Hayley Durán, coordinator of the violence eradication axis of the CRUCH commission, gives a positive assessment.
She mentions that in recent years support documents have been developed for teams working with violence in universities, such as the Kaleidoscope Model and the Equipment Care and that “we are currently working on a document that will show how universities have been implementing Law 21.369.”.
Durán, who serves as coordinator of the Gender Unit at the University of Aysén, also mentions that a legal team has been formed, comprised of lawyers from various universities, who “have been working on analyzing the cases that have reached the different courts and have also provided ongoing advice and guidance on how to best handle them. Our goal for 2025 is to continue working, to keep moving forward in building safe and violence-free university spaces.”.
Angélica Marín, coordinator of the CRUCH Gender Equality Commission, adds that “it is also important to continue addressing intervention processes and especially reparation processes, which is where we have to continue working with those who have been affected.”.
Along with this, in the area of prevention, “actions promoting equitable relationships and working with masculinities are fundamental, in order to challenge the mandates of masculinity, such as conducting workshops and courses that question these ways of relating. Also, we need to delve deeper into all the work that has been done in the areas of research, sanctions, and reparations,“ Marín states.
For her part, the rector of the University of O'Higgins, Fernanda Kri, states that "the focus we should have as universities of the Council of Rectors for the coming years is the mainstreaming of the gender approach in the curriculum (...) This implies a lot of things: curricular changes, changing the subject programs and teacher training, so that teachers in the classroom can also have a gender focus.".
Finally, Kri assures that this will allow for greater equality, but “it will also allow the professionals we train to have this knowledge, to generate these cultural changes, and ultimately be professionals who, wherever they are, do not have gender biases, do not respond to stereotypes, and thus we can truly generate the cultural change that our country so desperately needs.”.
Text: CRUCH Communications
Image: UPLA and CRUCH Communications
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