Institut del Teatre reports 12 ex-teachers to Public Prosecutor's Office

BarcelonaInstitut del Teatre will send the files opened against twelve former teachers Barcelona's Provincial Prosecutor's Office so that it may determine whether there was "sexual harassment, abusive behaviour or abuse of power" in their behaviour with students. Thus, one year after ARA uncovered the abuse of power and harassment denounced by a score of students, the school informed the authorities of the findings made by its own Commission for the Prevention and Investigation of Sexual Harassment. At this point the twelve teachers are retired and one of the names that appears is that of theatre director Joan Ollé

"As these are teaching staff who are no longer part of the institution, the Institut del Teatre cannot investigate the facts, nor apply precautionary or preventive measures, nor open any disciplinary proceedings," the school stated, emphasising that the 12 teachers are retired and the facts described in the 10 reports received until December 2021 took place years ago: "Most of the facts reported refer to situations that occurred more than 25 years ago". In fact, most of the people who participated in the ARA report – which brought to the table the abusive situations and harassment received at the Instituto del Teatre – did not take the step of reporting the facts to the school.

In September the Institut del Teatre already informed the Prosecutor Office of the case of teacher Boris Dausà, after it "identified signs of sexual harassment in his behaviour". Dausà had meetings with students, with a strong sexual content, outside the school. Since last March, Dausà has been removed from classrooms as a precautionary measure.

Changes in protocols

In its statement, the Institut del Teatre announces that it will make changes in the protocols for the prevention and detection of sexual harassment and abuse. One of the most significant is that the commission that will analyse complaints of abuse will be able to investigate "the facts presented by students or alumni who ceased to be linked to the institution over a year ago, provided that the persons to be investigated are currently employed by the Institut del Teatre". Until now, the protocol only allowed investigation of facts reported by current students or students who had finished their studies the previous year. Thi has led to the current situation: the Institut del Teatre has not investigated the cases of these 12 teachers who have now been sent to the Prosecutor's Office because the protocol did not allow it. Faced with this situation, the Institut del Teatre transferred the files to the legal services of the Diputació de Barcelona – on which the school depends – which has analysed them and has decided to send them on to the Prosecutor's Office.