THE ESTABLISHMENT of a Gender Hub in the Loyola Schools (LS) is in the works. This will serve as an office dedicated to addressing sexual misconduct and gender concerns within the Ateneo community.

With Ateneans seen voicing out concerns regarding sexual harassment and misconduct, as evidenced by widely-reached ADMU Freedom Wall posts that circulated last October and November 2018, the Office of the Vice President for the Loyola Schools (OVPLS), the gender policy technical working group (TWG), and the Sanggunian Commission on Anti-Sexual Misconduct and Violence (CASMV) decided to create the Gender Hub to respond to these problems and other related concerns.

CASMV Co-commissioner Regina Pagdanganan said the Hub is expected to launch within the first semester of the academic year 2019-2020.

Gender resource and advocacy center

According to the Sanggunian Statement of Support for the LS Gender Policy released last September 9, the Gender Hub is in accordance with the policy’s “provision of safe spaces in the Loyola Schools.”

The hub is also seen as “pivotal entity in the school’s pursuit to be free of gender violence and for true gender equality,” Vice President for the Loyola Schools Maria Luz Vilches, PhD told The GUIDON last October 2018.

In an October 2018 School forum, Gender Focal Point for the University Maria Elissa Lao, DPA and TWG member Carolyn Pile conveyed updates on the status of LS Gender Policy. The TWG will now extend their work beyond the LS Gender Policy through their creation of the gender hub. Lao and Pile said that the proposed hub is among their efforts to meet gender imperatives, which includes a proposed Gender Resource and Advocacy Center.

Pagdanganan explained that the TWG will work on two things: the lobbying for the LS Gender Justice Code of Practice and the Roll Out Plan 2019 onward of Hilab, Hilom, and Halinhan (3H).

As mentioned in a previous article, the drafted LS Gender Justice Code of Practice Against Sexual Harassment is a “comprehensive manual on all the University’s commitments, procedures and services” on the matters of sexual misconduct on campus.

“[The Roll Out Plan 2019 onward of 3H] has been Sanggu’s commitment to combating sexual harassment and gender inequality. I imagine the TWG, members of the Sanggu, and volunteers of the 3H team in planning and executing workshops to university advocates of gender equality and university stakeholders. This is hopefully to influence policy and promote gender equality and gender justice in universities,” she said.

With both the TWG’s idea and the LS Gender Policy’s goals, Vilches said the prompting of the Gender Hub therefore only seemed “natural.”

“It seemed just like a natural effect of the Gender Policy to have a place that can attend to gender-related issues,” she said.

She described the Gender Hub as, “an office dedicated to attend to gender-related issues and concerns, and will be equipped with people who are trained to attend to [such].”

Vilches added that the idea of the Gender Hub has been “mulled over a long time before.” Yet the actual concrete planning started during the SY 2017-2018 intersession period, and was made firmer during the first semester school year 2018-2019.  It was presented to the Vice President’s Council, and the OVPLS worked on making the idea a reality.

As envisioned, she expressed that the Gender Hub will offer its services through multiple programs and advice and counseling services which will be able to create a real “provision of safe spaces” in the LS community.

“The people in that office will be able to give advice to those who have concerns about where to go and what to do with their complaints. The office will also offer programs that can help the community more proactively in becoming aware of positive measures on what it means for LS to be a ‘safe community,’” Vilches said.

Safe spaces in the Ateneo community

Moreover, Pagdanganan said that expectations from the Gender Hub include enhanced well-being and welfare services, immediate assistance in cases of crisis or emergencies, enhanced reporting and protective mechanisms, advocacy centers, referral mechanisms, conflict management/dispute resolution assistance, accountability measures, and administrative review.

“All mechanisms, whether new or amended, will be reviewed if they promote gender-inclusivity, gender-responsiveness, and safe communities,” she added in line with the expected innovations brought about by the hub.

According to Vilches, the location for the Gender Hub is currently under the planning phase headed by the Office of Facilities and Sustainability (OFS). She said the space being considered for the office is somewhere in Gonzaga Hall.

She added that, “Even if there’s no physical office for the hub yet, the LS has been attending to gender-related matters for a long time since then.”

Vilches also noted that there are already people who have been appointed to run the office and protocols are currently being crafted.

As of this writing, Pagdanganan said that the expected launch date is in August 2019. Prior to its launch, the Sanggunian will hold a campaign to raise awareness on the Gender Hub.