The students responsible for hazes can be punished with a fine of up to R$20,000 (approximately US$8,600), suspension of up to six months, and expelling.

The House Floor approved, on Wednesday (18), the Bill 1023/95, which forbids violent or shaming hazes against students in colleges and universities. The hazes consist in the reception of students entering university with mockeries prepared by their older colleagues. They consist, for instance, in smudging freshmen with ink and cutting the hair of boys. In the last years, though, many students have been humiliated and even raped in those ceremonies.

The approved bill determines that the university files disciplinary processes against the students responsible for those acts. The matter is being forwarded to the Senate.

According to the text, which resulted from a suggestion by the Deputies Flávio Dino (PCdoB-MA) and Carlos Sampaio (PSDB-SP), hazes constraining freshmen; which expose the students in a shaming way; which offend their physical, moral or psychological integrity; or which oblige students to donate goods or cash are forbidden.

Procedure
The approved wording did not reach a consensus, and doubts on the efficiency of the project’s rules were raised. The Deputy Regis de Oliveira (PSC-SP) stressed, for instance, that penalties against the universities which do not file suits against those who practice violent hazes are not provided for. “If the suit is not filed, the institution will suffer nothing and nothing will happen”, he pondered.

According to the text, the disciplinary suit will follow the rules of each educational institution, and the adversary and the legal defense will be ensured to the student. The following penalties can be applied: a fine ranging from R$1,000 to R$20,000 (from US$434 to US$8,600); the student’s suspension for six months; and expelling. That last penalty will forbid the student to enroll in the same institution for one year.

The resources from the fines should be used in the purchase of books for university libraries.

Calendar
Before the beginning the school year, the universities should create a committee of teachers and students to elaborate a calendar of activities for the reception of new students. Its objective will be to integrate the freshmen to university life and to allow them to know the facilities and the operation of the institution.

The activities, whatever they are, cannot last for more than 20 hours and will happen during the first month of the school year.

According to the Deputy Flávio Dino, the bill encourages peace culture and human rights. “The text provides for a penalty system which is quite balanced, in which the expelling of the student is the last resource against more severe acts”, he affirmed.

Report - Eduardo Piovesan
Editing - João Pitella Junior
Translation – Positive Idiomas Ltda