Six professors from the University of Barcelona (UB) have demanded in a public letter addressed to the rector Joan Guàrdia the “immediate dismissal” of the vice-rector Jordi Matas, who is being investigated for sexual harassment of a student while the investigation into the events lasts.
The case, revealed this Monday by the press, shows how in 2017 a student reported that the professor, who was her tutor for her final degree project, sent her off-color messages and insisted on seeing her outside of class. The commission analyzed the case and closed it “without allegations on both sides,” according to the university.
The teachers now signatories, who ask adhesions to his letter, They demand “zero tolerance towards sexual harassment and gender discrimination” at the university and denounce that the case has revealed the application of current protocols and those that the current government team raised during the campaign for the internal elections. to the rectorate.
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The signatories demand that “an independent investigation be opened into the events reported by this student”, that “Dr. Jordi Matas be provisionally removed as vice-rector of the UB while the investigation is carried out” and that “the the evaluation processes of harassment cases, with a guarantee of independence of the analysis with respect to the Rectorate and the university hierarchy”.
Furthermore, they express their “solidarity with all victims of sexual harassment and gender discrimination” and remember that “it is the responsibility of the entire community, including the university, to protect the victims and transparently investigate complaints.” The letter is signed by Francois Cohen, Judit Vall Castello, Álvaro Choi, Pilar Sorribas Navarro, Javier Vazquez Grenno, Jordi Jofre Monseny, members of the Department of Economics of the Faculty of Economics and Business of the UB.