Occupy Universities in Chile demands end to gender violence

The occupation of about a dozen Chilean universities by female students demanding an end to harassment, machismo and sexist education has entered its fourth week.

The Austral University and the University of Chile's law school has been occupied by thousands of young women looking to end the "cover-up" for professors accused of gender violence, Efe news reported.

"We are tired of violence against women," read the banners displayed at the Valdivia campus, where reports exceed 100 a year, following a series of unresolved accusations against school staff.

A "feminist seizure" has been in effect since April. "We are being harassed, abused and assaulted in our own spaces and that cannot be allowed."

Official gender violence figures show as many as 90 per cent of women have faced a situation involving sexual harassment at some point in their lives.

--IANS

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