The Universidad de El Salvador (University of El Salvador) as a space for the reproduction of gender violence

Abstract

The general objective of the research was to typify the expressions of violence that are reproduced in the spaces of the university. This is a descriptive study, with an integrated approach; the survey technique was utilizing and administer to 655 people, through a stratified sampling applied in all the faculties of the main campus and from the eastern multidisciplinary faculty. In addition, workshops, focus groups and interviews were held with authorities, teachers, administrative staff, students, unions and student associations, between February and aril 2018. The results showed that all types of violence are reproduced, but the psychological and emotional, and sexual violence are the most frequent with 65,75 and 15,53% respectively. The spaces where violence is mostly reproduced are the classrooms, 41,69 %; the cubicles, 14,58 %, and the offices with 10,02 %. The indifference of the university community, the solitary spaces and the performance of the university security team contributes to this situation, as the most determining factor of this situation. Women are most commonly victims of violent aggression with a 64,82 %, followed by the population of lesbians, gays, bisexual, transsexuals, and intersexual with a 34,66 %; and men with a 18,52 %; Those who reproduce this violence in a major scale, according to the opinion of 55% of the interviewees, are men.

It is pointed out that this situation is due to the power relations, fear and others, all this join with the lack of knowledge of rights among the university community. It is undeniable that the institution does not escape from the male oriented and heteropatriarchal systems. Despite the validity, of a normative framework on women’s rights, not enough is known, neither of the internal instances responsible for the implementation of the legislation. All this contributes to the lack of complaint, which is also induced by fear and by the little confidence in the processes.