Statement denouncing racist, transphobic and sexist graffiti on the murals of the Plaça Cívica
In recent days, there have been acts of vandalism on murals in the Plaça Cívica consisting of racist, transphobic and sexist messages. In view of these facts, the Equality and Diversity Service once again expresses its condemnation and categorical rejection of any manifestation of discrimination, hate speech or symbolic violence within the UAB campus.
From the Equality and Diversity Service we express our firm condemnation of the graffiti, which constitutes a direct attack on the commitment of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona to gender equality and to the defence of the rights of racialized people, with functional diversity and belonging to the LGBTIQ+ collective. These events are not isolated: since 2020 there have been several acts of vandalism of an LGBTIphobic, racist and misogynistic nature on the Bellaterra campus of the UAB.
On the International Day for the Elimination of Gender Violence, the Service commissioned the artist Clara Corax to create a mural in the Civic Square. Soon after, the work was the subject of offensive and denigrating graffiti towards women. Unfortunately, these attacks were repeated even after its restoration.
Subsequently, on International Working Women's Day, the Service commissioned the artist herself to create a banner with the slogan "We are building feminist universities", accompanied by inclusive illustrations, which was installed on the façade of the Agora building. A few days later, the banner was again vandalized, with white paint applied and scratched on the depicted faces. Episodes of this nature have been reproduced in other spaces on campus, such as the stairs decorated with LGBTI flags, evidencing the persistence of this type of symbolic aggression.
The Equality and Diversity Service considers these acts a reaction of white supremacism and heteropatriarchal to the advances of the UAB in the field of equality and human rights. The university's commitment is articulated not only with protest murals but also through action protocols against harassment and violence, the offer of training and awareness-raising courses aimed at the entire community, the psychological reception service and strategies such as the V Action Plan for Gender Equality (2024–2030), among others.
In response, we reaffirm our commitment to the affected groups and announce that the attacked murals will soon be cleaned. We will continue to build a feminist university, free of violence and committed to real and effective equality.