OGDIS:
Policies and Procedures

Prevention

To understand gender-based violence, it is essential to recognize the normalized forms of violence that are exercised in everyday life, where social and cultural supports inevitably operate, transmitted through both manifest and symbolic behaviors and artifacts. Therefore, it is not possible to approach violence from any other perspective than the Gender Perspective, where the creation of OGDIS (Office of Gender and Sexual Diversities) within an academic space becomes crucial. This space upholds Excellence and a Global Vision as its core values—principles that must be directed toward reducing practices that knowingly or unknowingly endorse the exercise of violence in all relationships established within the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Chile. The goal is to discover new ways of relating, deconstruct the established norms, and denormalize and desensitize everyday violence through preventive actions, awareness campaigns, training, and other outreach activities.

Gender-based violence

 

To understand gender-based violence, it is crucial to first clarify the concept of gender. Gender refers to “the set of ideas, representations, practices, and social prescriptions that a culture develops based on the anatomical differences between women and men to symbolize and socially construct what is ‘proper’ for men (masculine) and for women (feminine)” (Lamas, 2000: 2). Through this lens, gender incorporates representations that culturally build a symbolic order, “weaving a tacit knowledge without which there is no ordered and routine social interaction, by which people share unspoken, unexplicit meanings taken as given truths” (Lamas, 2000: 2).

Based on this understanding, gender-based violence refers to violence exerted against individuals, either alone or as a group, based on assumptions and prejudices supported by power dynamics and sustained at the cultural level. It categorizes human value in a subordinating/dominating relationship rooted in representations such as sex, gender identity, age, class, race, work position, nationality, immigration status, economic situation, etc. It is important to note that, “despite its severity, gender-based violence is often perceived as a ‘routine’ practice, rather than a serious threat that requires attention” (PNUD, 2013: 85), which ultimately becomes a barrier to human development.

This approach emphasizes the importance of understanding gender roles as they relate to power structures that normalize violence, which can lead to harmful, everyday behaviors that go unchecked in many societies.

Sexual Violence

 

In the context of adults, that is, individuals over 18 years old, sexual violence is considered any act that infringes upon another person’s sexual freedom, meaning against their will and without their consent.

According to the “Guidelines for Addressing Sexual Harassment at the University of Chile” (Exempt Decree 001817 from January 2017), it is understood as:

Decreto Exento 001817 de enero de 2017

Sexual Harassment in the Educational Context

Behavior that Violates the Right to Receive a Quality Education Capable of Providing Real Opportunities for Comprehensive Training and Development is behavior of a sexual nature that is unwelcome by the person to whom it is directed. It is directly or indirectly linked to decisions that affect their educational opportunities and results in a hostile, offensive, or intimidating educational environment for the victim.

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace includes sexual behaviors such as physical contact, suggestive comments, sexual remarks, the display of pornography, and sexual demands, either verbal or physical. This type of behavior can be humiliating and may constitute a health and safety issue. It is considered discriminatory when the individual has sufficient reasons to believe that rejecting such behavior could lead to problems at work, such as issues with hiring, promotion, or even job retention, or when it creates a hostile work environment that affects the daily work climate.

Ley N° 18.834, sobre Estatuto Administrativo

Consent

“…Consensual relationships do not constitute harassment; however, consent cannot be inferred from silence or the lack of resistance from the victim… In student-teacher relationships or hierarchical work relationships, there is an element of power, making it uncommon for those subjected to authority to explicitly reject such behaviors. It is the responsibility of those in positions of authority not to abuse or appear to abuse it.”

Arbitrary Discrimination in the Educational Context

“Arbitrary Discrimination” should be understood as any distinction, exclusion, or restriction that lacks reasonable justification, particularly when it is based on factors such as race, ethnicity, nationality, socioeconomic status, language, political ideology or opinion, religion or belief, participation (or lack thereof) in organizations, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, age, affiliation, personal appearance, or illness or disability.

Reglamento de Estudiantes de la Universidad de Chile. DEX N° 007586.

Arbitrary Discrimination in the Workplace

“Any act of arbitrary discrimination that results in exclusion or restrictions, such as those based on race or ethnicity, socioeconomic status, language, political ideology or opinion, disability, religion or belief, union membership or participation in trade organizations (or lack thereof), sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, age, parentage, physical appearance, or illness, is prohibited if its purpose is to annul or alter equality of opportunities or treatment in employment.”

The administrative statute states that, concerning discrimination, the provisions of Law No. 20.609 shall apply.

Why Are Sexual or Gender-Based Violences Not Reported Immediately?

On one hand, the delay in detecting and/or revealing experiences of sexual violence is not due to a desire to remain in harmful dynamics or because women [or men] enjoy being victimized, but because their sensory capacity is blocked by traumatic events that primarily taught women to make violence invisible “as if” nothing happened, or “as if” it wasn’t such a big deal. On the other hand, the “as if” is incorporated through cultural socialization within power structures, positioning women [and anything feminine] as citizens in the category of being violable [or abusable], even learning to continue living with and sharing spaces with aggressors “as if” nothing is wrong, taking on the task of channeling their harmful emotions onto others who might eventually be in a lower position in this power hierarchy, or even repressing them to later somatize them. (Castro, 2017: 114)

Bibliography

Castro Salazar, Inés (2017). El “como sí” y el Proceso caleidoscópico de la violencia sexual. Significados y síntomas que operan por la violencia sexual en Mujeres que buscan algún tipo de atención reparatoria. Tesis para optar a Magíster en Estudios de Género y Cultura, Mención en Ciencias Sociales. Universidad de Chile. Lamas, Marta, (2000), Diferencias de sexo, género y diferencia sexual, Cuicuilco, Enero-abril, año/vol.7, número 018. Distrito Federal, México. Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia (ENAH).Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD) (2013). Informe regional de desarrollo Humano 2013-2014, Seguridad ciudadana con rostro humano: diagnóstico y propuestas para América Latina.