Three students filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the prestigious Harvard University (Massachusetts, United States) for ignoring their complaints about the alleged sexual harassment and abuse of a professor.
According to the brief of the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Boston, this case is about “Harvard’s failure for a decade to protect students from sexual abuse and retaliation for finishing their studies.”
The complainants Margaret Czerwienski, Lilia Kilburn and Amulya Mandava allege that Anthropology Professor John Comaroff, “a renowned academic” in his field, used his position of power for years to take advantage of female students.
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“He kissed and groped students without their consent, made unwelcome sexual advances and threatened to sabotage his students’ careers if they complained,” the court brief reads.
In the Kilburn case, Comaroff allegedly repeatedly and forcibly kissed her, groped her in public, fantasized aloud about her rape and murder, alienated her from other professors and derailed her academic career, the plaintiffs allege.
Comaroff also allegedly threatened Mandava and Czerwienski, tarnished their reputations and derailed their careers.
The complaint alleges that these actions were made possible by “Harvard’s deliberate disregard,” as victims repeatedly complained to university managers, who chose to ignore them and “protect their star professor above all others.” vulnerable students.
In the court brief, the three defend that they are not alone and recall that a committee created by the university to examine the environment within the Department of Anthropology recently concluded that it is plagued by “an enduring pattern of sexism, misogyny and gender malpractice.” .
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This pattern occurs “to a large extent” without control by a “predominantly male and white” faculty, they point out.
In fact, the lawsuit cites a report that indicates that a third of the student body of said department said they had suffered harassment, but that in most cases they did not report it for fear that it would affect their careers.
Comaroff’s lawyers stressed in a statement, quoted by The New York Times, that their client “categorically denies harassing or taking revenge on any student” and assured that the professor did not touch or kiss “inappropriately” Kilburn.
They also claimed that her comments about a Kilburn rape were part of a piece of advice that Comaroff gave the student to stay safe during a trip to Cameroon that she made with her partner, a woman, in a country that criminalizes homosexuality.
The lawsuit against the university is the latest episode in a scandal that dates back a year.
Comaroff is currently on administrative leave and the university has banned him from teaching until the next academic year.
Harvard has not found the professor guilty of physical or sexual misconduct, but only responsible for verbally violating the center’s policies regarding sexist harassment and professional conduct, clarifies The New York Times.
More than 90 academics have signed an open letter in support of Comaroff, made public before the lawsuit was filed, while another fifty have signed another letter in response, claiming that their colleagues have been too quick to defend the professor. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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