The Federal Audit Court (TCU) will include in its audits analyzes that show whether public bodies are implementing mechanisms to prevent sexual harassment and punish possible aggressors. The decision also applies to audits already underway in court. The idea is that the instruments currently used to combat moral harassment in public administration are also evaluated.
The proposal, by Minister Walton Alencar, was approved by the court this Wednesday (9), one day after International Women’s Day. The minister highlighted in his vote the low number of processes that seek to investigate cases of sexual harassment and the even smaller number of punishments.
They were audited by Petrobras, the Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region, CGU and the Federal Senate. Court technicians found 49 disciplinary proceedings instituted from 2015 to 2019 to investigate cases of sexual harassment. Of these, only 19 (38.78%) resulted in disciplinary punishment. In all cases, the harasser was a man.
Minister Walton Alencar highlighted that the small number of disciplinary proceedings and the few outcomes with the application of sanctions reveal a discrepancy with what research on sexual harassment indicates. “In Brazil, a study conducted by Linkedin and by Consultoria Think Eva concluded that 41.12% of the women participating in the survey say they have already suffered sexual harassment at work”, highlighted the minister.
According to him, most women do not have a safety net and they become “playthings of unscrupulous actors, unable to respect their will”. “It is necessary to empathize with this socially relevant group, to put yourself in the shoes of all those who do not have this network and suffer the regrettable effects of harassment, without defense and without support. It can be seen that there is a lot to evolve in the prevention and detection of these behaviors”, said the minister during his vote.
Investigations on moral harassment occur in greater numbers, but punishments are still scarce. According to the TCU, there were 270 disciplinary proceedings initiated in the period from 2014 to 2018. But only 54 resulted in the application of some type of disciplinary sanction. Therefore, the mechanisms to combat moral harassment will also become the target of court audits.
Source: CNN Brasil
