Due to the fact that in the Faculty of Medicine and Psychology (FMYS ) of the Tijuana campus of UABC there is discrimination on the part of teachers, administrators, and students towards students of the LGBTI community, the Safe Spaces Program was created, which aims to take care of the integrity of them.
In this faculty, there are just over 1,600 students, of whom 10% belong to the LGBTI.
Aarón Ruiz, from the second semester of psychology and in charge of the program, commented that another of the objectives of Espacios Seguros is that students with different sexual preferences live without fear of showing themselves as they are.
He said that in his first months in the Maximum House of Studies his colleagues called him ‘fagot’ and they separated him from cohabitation.
“I had never suffered, I had never felt discrimination. It was surprising to discover that discrimination exists in the university. I thought that the university students had an open mind, especially those who study psychology, “he said.
Aaron said the assaults were usually verbal and happened inside and outside the classrooms. This situation, he added, can lead to depression and low self-esteem in the LGBTI community that, while living its acceptance process, suffers rejection in its environment.
On the other hand, Margarita Tovar, responsible for the psychology career, acknowledged that although it is a university environment it is difficult to achieve respect for people with different sexual preferences.
“When these topics are played in classes it seems that everything is said and that all have openness, but I know that by finishing the class they will start sharing memes in social networks with homophobic content or with sexual discrimination, it seems that academic life is separated of personal life, “he said.
María Eddy Echavarría Félix, counselor at FMYS, mentioned that the Safe Spaces Program is part of the Sexual Harassment Prevention Program, in which they have dealt with 20 complaints of sexual assault and sexual preference.
However, he acknowledged that few students dare to report due to fear or shame.
He also stressed that they will seek to implement both programs throughout the UABC to guarantee the safety of the student community, with the help of the Vice-Chancellorship.
For the time being, the programs will be strengthened through training together with FMYS and the University of San Diego, and then replicated at the University of Puebla.
Source: elimparcial
The Mazatlan Post
