El acoso sexual en las Instituciones de Educación Superior caso: Facultad de Ciencias Administrativas de la Escuela Politécnica Nacional - EPN

Abstract

The present investigation is intended to identify the presence of sexual harassment against or among students of the Faculty of Administrative Sciences (FCA) of the National Polytechnic School (EPN), as well as to know what the institutional actions of the EPN are in relation to situations of sexual harassment and characterize such situations. This mixed type research is based on the quantitative phase in the application of the Interpersonal Relationships in Universities (CRIU) survey, which is a tool developed and validated for the context of Ecuador's Higher Education Institutions by a group of experts from the Salesian Polytechnic University in conjunction with other universities in the country. For its part, the qualitative phase was supported by interviews with different authorities of the FCA and the Student Welfare Unit of the EPN. The research showed the following main results: a) The presence of the 22 situations characterized as sexual harassment in the applied questionnaire. b) The highest number of victims of acts of sexual harassment were undergraduate students. c) The EPN does not have its own protocol for victim assistance in the event of sexual harassment; however, they are working on developing one. d) The majority of victims of sexual harassment situations agree that these acts should be reported to university authorities and legal bodies that protect the integrity of the affected party through the exercise of their rights.