CES Independent Commission confirms “patterns of harassment and abuse of power” at the institution

Last Wednesday, March 13th, a press conference was held at the Center for Social Studies to publicize the results of the allegations of sexual violence and harassment investigated by the Independent Commission.

The independent commission’s report records 32 people as whistleblowers, 78% of whom are women. 78 complaints were also identified referring to 14 people reported, of which 64% were women and 36% men.

The complaints presented correspond to 28% of moral harassment, 19% of sexual harassment, 8% of sexual abuse, 27% of power abuse and 18% of other categories.

In the open letter from the Center for Social Studies (CES), the institution declares “its repudiation and indignation at the practices of harassment, moral and sexual abuse and abuse of power committed by CES researchers” and apologizes to all victims .

During the conference, the director of CES, Tiago Santos Pereira, assumes responsibility for the acts committed as they took place within the institution but reinforces that there were a set of institutional changes such as: the creation of the code of conduct and the creation of the ethics committee .

The representative also explains that as an institution they cannot suspend any of the people reported without initiating a disciplinary process but that this possibility is being evaluated and that this decision is also dependent on other factors involving the CES association.

Tiago Pereira continues his speech saying that this decision should be discussed at the institute’s assembly.

The CES director states that there are two concerns at the moment, which are to value the victims but also to work within the existing legal framework and try to prevent the situations they went through from happening again.

The Independent Commission’s report points out patterns “of abuse of power and harassment by some people who held higher positions in the CES hierarchy”. The document will be sent to the Public Prosecutor’s Office to determine whether there is a criminal framework to be applied.

Tiago Pereira shows that it is also necessary to implement a set of measures, in an organized way, in order to include more students in the institution.

At the end of the conference, a group of students, spontaneously, demonstrated for the cause against harassment. The students put up posters with phrases such as “Don’t silence us again” and “It was always harassment” and shouted the following phrase “It messed with one, it messed with them all”. Those involved in the demonstration tried to speak to the CES representative but were unsuccessful.

In an interview with Rádio Universidade de Coimbra, Damas Morais, a Mandarin student at the University of Coimbra, says that the CES did not give the case due seriousness and that it was only concerned with the institution’s image.

The student claims that removing Boaventura Sousa Santos from his position, not mentioning the names of the people involved in the report and not treating the victims as such, but as someone who feels victimized shows “not wanting to solve the problem”.

Boaventura Sousa Santos sent a note to the newsrooms stating that he had expected a clarification from the CES that would “put an end to the climate of suspicion”.

He also says that the results of the independent commission highlight situations of abuse of power in which he does not see himself as these situations were practiced over the years by members of higher positions in the CES and that he has not been part of any of them since 2010.

Boaventura dos Santos Sousa ends by saying that he hopes this process serves as an example for the future.