Statement by the UAB Governing Team
Statement by the UAB Governing Team in view of the judicial sentence against one of the University's lecturers for a crime of sexual abuse.
The Prevention and Action Protocol against sexual harassment, gender-based harassment, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, and male violence sets down that the Observatory for Equality is in charge of the activation of the Technical Assessment Commission (Comissió Tècnica Assessora, CTA). One of the mechanisms foreseen in the Protocol is that the CTA must inform the Public Prosecutor's Office if it there is a case susceptible of being dealt with by the criminal justice system. Once the case reaches the justice system, the UAB remains at the disposal of the judicial decisions and leaves the disciplinary file in temporary suspension.
The judicial sentence condemning one of the UAB's lecturers which has now been made public, derives directly from the activation of this protocol, since it was the CTA that brought the facts to the attention of the Public Prosecutor's Office.
It is now, and only now, when the UAB will immediately apply a preliminary injunction, given the severity of the proven facts, since the UAB is not part of this judicial process: by virtue of Article 98.3 of Royal Legislative Decree 5/2015, of 30 October, approving the revised text of the law of the Basic Statute of the Public Employee, the rector has resolved to lift the suspension of the disciplinary proceedings initiated against the lecturer convicted in 2019 and adopt the preliminary injunction consisting of the provisional suspension of the lecturer's functions during the period of time that remains to be substantiated in the criminal proceedings.
Throughout the process, the UAB has provided strong and determined support to the victim and has avoided at all times the revictimization of this person. The University has at all times adhered to the procedures in order to guarantee the correct development of the judicial process.
This action shows, once again, the firm commitment of all UAB groups to act firmly against any attitude or conduct that could constitute a case of male chauvinism and to work transversally to ensure a university in which there is no violence against women.
Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), 14 March 2023