Independent Commission to Clarify Situations of Harassment at the Centre for Social Studies

Mission

The focus of the work of the Independent Commission (IC) is the analysis and clarification of complaints about possible situations of sexual and moral abuse and harassment occurred in the context of professional, research or advanced training activities carried out at the Centre for Social Studies. The Commission will analyse the situations described in the chapter “The walls spoke when no one else would. Autoethnographic notes on sexual-power gatekeeping within avant-garde academia”, in a book published by Routledge, as well as complaints that may be submitted through the channels established for this purpose, until 30 September 2023.

The Commission does not intend and shall not replace the competent administrative or judicial bodies or authorities for the assessment of conduct that may constitute disciplinary offences or non-prescribed crimes. 

The Commission’s sole objective is to indicatively validate, on the basis of evidence to be produced, such as testimony or documents, the complaints reported to it.

In pursuing its mission, the Commission will be guided by criteria of impartiality, autonomy and independence. The Commission will organise a series of hearings (face-to-face or virtual) with all the people who, within the scope of the IC’s work, wish to be heard or whom the Commission considers relevant.

Drawing on good practices already established in other international academic contexts, the Independent Commission will also be responsible for producing recommendations for the development and adoption of measures to prevent and sensitise members of the CES community to moral and sexual harassment. The Independent Commission will carry out a diagnosis of the situation, subsequently recommending normative and pedagogical measures to be analysed by CES bodies.

The Commission is an autonomous structure, free and independent of any influence, internal or external, and will begin its work as soon as it is appointed, presenting its report by the end of 2023. Complaints submitted by 30 September 2023 through the contact channels provided for this purpose will be considered.

Complaints and reports

The Independent Commission has established the following contact channels to receive complaints, ancillary documentation or other additional information exclusively on the matters being analysed:

E-mail: comissaoindependenteces@comindependente.pt

Anonymous reporting mechanism via the Faceup platform, www.faceup.com/c/v5jx9k3e

The platform and e-mail address indicated as means of contact are located on servers external to CES and are accessed exclusively by the members of the Commission.

The Commission will not consider any contact through these channels when it is not related to a complaint. Documents and other evidence supporting the complaint may be attached. The Commission will have full autonomy to assess the relevance of the complaints, in light of what is set out in these Terms of Reference, and must acknowledge receipt of all complaints within three (3) working days. Should the IC consider that a particular complaint is not relevant in this context, it must inform the complainant, indicating another recipient, if deemed relevant.

Working methodology

The Commission will organise a series of hearings (face-to-face or virtual) with all the people it considers relevant in the context of the complaints made.

The hearings must always include, at least, two members of the Independent Commission, who will be responsible for conducting the interviews and drafting the respective minutes. Before any hearing, an informed consent form regulating how the people heard will be identified or anonymised, will be signed. The decision to maintain anonymity, and the methods elected to anonymise the minutes of the hearings, thus depend on the express wishes of the people heard, which will be fully respected.

The minutes will be sent to those involved within four (4) working days, and they will have the same period to comment on them. If there is no response within this period, the minutes will be deemed approved. The minutes are confidential and will be kept undisclosed by all those involved, under penalty of criminal prosecution in the event of its disclosure.

The Independent Commission, if it sees fit, may apply a diagnostic tool, anonymously, among the CES community with the aim of mapping the prevalence of situations of harassment and/or abuse of power in the institution.

CES will make available to the Commission all documents deemed relevant to characterise the functioning of the institution (namely Statutes, Code of Conduct, Ombudsperson Regulations, Ethics Committee Regulations). The Commission may request any information it wishes from CES, which will be promptly made available.

The Ombudsperson will be the Commission’s preferred contact. The CES governing bodies, namely the Board of Directors and the Presidency of the Scientific Board, will be available to receive any request from the Commission with a view to better pursuing the work to be carried out.

Communicating the results

The Independent Commission will draw up a report with its conclusions, which it will send to the Board of Directors and the CES Ombudsperson. A public presentation of the report will be made by CES and the Commission, and a version with wording ensuring the anonymisation or pseudonymisation of the personal data of those involved will be made publicly available.

The CES Board of Directors is obliged to maintain the confidentiality of any documents handed to it by the Independent Commission that contain confidential and/or personal data, with the exception of their use for disciplinary and/or judicial purposes.

The Commission, or any of its individual members, will not make any public statements until the work has been completed. 

Material resources

CES will provide the material resources needed to carry out the Commission’s duties, namely the implementation of complaint channels, means of communication, the existence of a face-to-face meeting space in independent premises, the provision of a laptop computer and the corresponding information management system, with exclusive access for Commission members.

CES will also cover the costs associated with the Independent Commission’s operation, namely travel and subsistence expenses, as well as fees.

Conflicts of interest

The members of the Commission declare that they have no Conflict of Interest (CoI) arising from previous relations with CES or with persons identified in the context of the complaints already made public. They also declare that they have no knowledge of situations that could be the subject of a complaint in this scope.

The members of the Commission are obliged to declare, to the other members as well as to the CES Ombudsperson, the existence of any Conflict of Interest in relation to eventual complaints that may arise in the course of their work. Should a Conflict of Interest arise, the Ombudsperson, together with the other members of the Commission, will assess the situation and the protective measures to be taken.

Duty of secrecy and anonymity

Without prejudice to the production of the final report, the members of the Commission are bound by a duty of secrecy with regard to the content of the work and its internal discussions, and will not speak publicly about any person involved in the enquiries, documents, data and information obtained in result of its work.

They are also obliged to guarantee the anonymity of the people who may be the object of this work. This obligation does not conflict with the identification, in the Report to be sent to the CES Board and the CES Ombudsperson, of the existence of objective evidence that could, with a high degree of probability, indicate any type of offence.