A space specially designed to receive complaints of sexual violence and gender discrimination that occur within the University. The Sexual Violence Care Service (SAVS), linked to the Executive Directorate of Human Rights (DEDH) of Unicamp, has just gained a new headquarters, located at Praça da Rectoria, on the Campinas campus. The virtual inauguration ceremony takes place this Wednesday (24), from 14 pm, at DEDH channel on YouTube.
“The inauguration of this space is a milestone in the process of institutionalizing Unicamp’s policy to combat sexual and gender-based violence”, highlights professor Ana Maria Fonseca de Almeida, who chairs the Advisory Committee created together with SAVS in 2019, from recommendations made by a working group established two years earlier to study the issue. For her, the new space reinforces Unicamp's commitment to combating this problem, unfortunately still present in everyday academic life. “A very important aspect of this service is to offer a guarantee that cases will be treated homogeneously, and that people will be heard and guided, always respecting their choices, their history and the right to contradiction”, she highlights.
Since it was created, SAVS had been operating in the same space as the now neighboring Ombudsman's Office. Being able to design your own space allowed the infrastructure to be adapted to serve those seeking the service with more discretion and care: that is why acoustic insulation, for example, was one of the priorities of the architectural project. “From a service point of view, it is another step towards adequate technical and ethical conditions, a way of giving credibility to this work and ensuring a relationship of trust”, explains Camila Ferreira, social worker responsible for SAVS. According to her, in addition to complying with specific parameters and laws for cases of sexual violence, the new space also increases the security and confidentiality of information and data generated by the services.
Complaint
All cases of sexual violence or gender discrimination occurring at the University must be reported to SAVS, even if the person has doubts about the violence suffered or only becomes aware of it much later, something common in this type of incident. The same goes for cases of cyber sexual harassment or gender discrimination via the Internet, foreseen in institutional policy even before the suspension of face-to-face activities due to the pandemic.
“SAVS welcomes this complaint – guaranteeing the confidentiality of the information, the identity of this person, and the content they report – and mobilizes University resources to ensure that the person is able to deal with this episode in the best possible way, including giving continue her activities at Unicamp”, explains Camila.
In other words, SAVS is responsible for activating specialized sectors at Unicamp according to the specificities of each case, offering guidance and accepting complaints, but has no power to judge or punish those involved. It is at the discretion of the person seeking the service to transform the complaint into a complaint, that is, to take the case to bodies that allow administrative or legal measures to be taken, inside or outside the University. “We work both with this internal network of specialized bodies of great excellence, and with an external network. It is important to remember that Unicamp is linked to other policies, that people can also contact external bodies, and SAVS also provides guidance in this regard”, explains the social worker.
“All referrals respect the role of the person seeking the service. The function of SAVS is to welcome, guide, present options, mediate with available services, and let the person decide on the steps to be taken”, highlights professor Ana Almeida.
Since it was created, SAVS has also been promoting educational and awareness-raising actions, as well as studies – one of the plans is to soon carry out a survey of the academic community on the topic. According to the executive director of Human Rights at Unicamp, professor Néri de Barros Almeida, initiatives that help to give visibility to both sexual violence, which largely targets women, and the discrimination suffered by the LGBTQI+ community. “This means that we are working not only for those people who have suffered violence, but also for those who daily suffer forms of discrimination that individuals have difficulty identifying and reporting as violence, which are the prejudices embedded in everyday and daily practices, that perpetuate inequalities based on gender and sexuality in our society. The University cannot be a place where sexual and gender-based violence is permitted and tolerated”, she reinforces.
How to ask for help
SAVS welcomes complaints from professors, students, researchers and employees at Unicamp, as well as from outsourced workers, interns, patrol officers and users of the various services that the University offers to the public. Although the headquarters is located in Campinas, the service also covers the Limeira and Piracicaba campuses, as well as the Technical Colleges. The service is open from Monday to Friday, from 11:30 am to 17:30 pm, by appointment via email savs@unicamp.br or by phone (19) 3521-7924 (WhatsApp).
Important: serious cases or cases involving physical violence are advised to seek emergency care at the CAISM Outpatient Clinic, the Hospital de Clínicas da Unicamp or another specialized emergency medical service.
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