On December 11, 2024, Brazil’s National Congress approved a national bill to prevent gender-based violence in Brazilian universities. This proposal is the result of decades of work by Brazilian researchers and women’s movements. Brazil ranks among the top five countries with the highest rates of violence against women in various social spaces, including universities.

As part of the efforts to combat gender-based violence, the NIASE research and socio-educational action center at the Federal University of São Carlos has conducted studies identifying key elements to prevent and address violence in different social spaces, including universities. Since 2009, NIASE has been conducting research and implementing initiatives in Brazilian universities, aiming to identify effective actions already successfully applied in other parts of the world to prevent or reduce violence against women. This included an international literature review to identify proven solutions.

The review highlighted key measures implemented globally:

1. Universities must take responsibility for prevention, protection, and victim support.
2. Establish educational and regulatory processes to restrict and prohibit perpetrators’ actions.
3. Provide mechanisms for reporting violence and supporting victims, even for conflicts or acts of violence outside the university, as long as university members are involved.
4. Ensure that perpetrators are restricted from the same spaces as victims, prioritizing victims’ freedom of movement.

NIASE has found that research conducted by members of CREA, an international research community on excellence for all, is among the highest quality and most effective in designing impactful solutions. One of NIASE’s studies, published as a chapter in a book on preventing violence in Latin American universities, became one of three references for the bill presented and approved by the National Congress in December.

This demonstrates how impactful social science research contributes to improving lives worldwide. Research teams like CREA are international benchmarks in this field.

Roseli Rodrigues de Mello

Professor at UFSCar, Brazil, since 1992 and PhD in Education.
She founded NIASE and introduced Learning Communities and Dialogic Literary Gatherings to Brazil. A prolific researcher and author, she coordinates international collaborations, conducts national and international studies, and trains schools across Latin America in successful educational actions and violence prevention.