Belgium’s Institute for the Equality of Women and Men and anti-discrimination body Unia have welcomed a new decree to tackle harassment, sexist and sexual violence, and discrimination in higher education.
However, they are urging the French Community of Belgium to extend the measures beyond students to cover all academic staff and researchers.
In a joint statement on Thursday, the two institutions said the decree, which has now entered into force, marks an important step forward in the fight against abuse in higher education.
The legislation provides for the creation of a strategic plan, the establishment of internal and external support units, and internal procedures for handling complaints. It also allows sanctions to be imposed on people found responsible for discrimination, harassment, or sexist and sexual violence, including permanent exclusion.
The decree was adopted by the Parliament of the French Community of Belgium in June last year.
However, the two bodies said the text contains a significant gap. They noted that its scope covers only violence between students and does not introduce any specific harmonised procedure or sanctions for perpetrators who are members of academic, scientific, or administrative staff.
They also said doctoral students, researchers, and, more broadly, other members of the academic community are not included within its scope.
The need for broader protection had already been highlighted by the Behaves study on wellbeing, harassment and discrimination in higher education, carried out by the University of Liège.
According to the study, more than one in two people reported having experienced psychological harassment, while nearly one in three said they had been subjected to sexist or sexual violence. Women and non-binary people were found to be particularly affected.
