Institut del Teatre reports teacher to Prosecutor's Office for sexual harassment

BarcelonaThe Institut del Teatre has reported teacher Boris Dausà, who had been accused of sexual harassment by a student, to the Provincial Prosecutor's Office of Barcelona. Seven months after ARA uncovered cases of sexual harassment and abuse of power by different teachers over the years, the Institut del Teatre has passed on the file opened against one of the thirteen staff that appeared before the prevention and investigation commission investigating the accusations. In May, this commission concluded that files would be opened on three teachers and one of them, Boris Dausà, would be reported to the Prosecutor's office due to evidence of sexual harassment. "Once the Diputació de Barcelona finished its investigation, and given that the indications of sexual harassment have been confirmed, we have informed the public prosecutor's office", the centre wrote in a statement.

Initially, the Institut del Teatre removed stage director Joan Ollé from teaching, after he was accused of "inappropriate behaviour" during classes. Ollé's investigation has been suspended due to his retirement and, in view of this situation, the Institut del Teatre cannot apply the "administrative disciplinary regime to sanction people who are not part of the staff", but it is assessing the "possibility of taking legal action".

Two days after ARA revealed the accusations, the faculty explained to the students that there was a second teacher who would be removed from teaching: this was Dausà, suspended from classes as a precautionary measure as a result of students' accusations. Dausà taught in a house in the mountains – despite the fact that the Institut del Teatre forbids it, encouraged the students to have sex with each other and participated in sexual games with some of the students. He also sent sexual images to a student and had tried to have sex with some boys and girls, which caused a lot of discomfort because the students who had rejected him had to see him every day.

Out of all the complaints received by the Institut del Teatre – students did not report most of the cases explained by ARA due to their lack of trust in the centre – the commission focused on investigating the teachers who were still active, arguing that it could only address the requests submitted by current students or alumni who had left within the past year. A third case, in this case regarding a teacher accused of serious misconduct over invasive teaching practices, ended with his suspension from work and pay for a period of two months and six days. The sanction is awaiting execution until the period to present allegations ends.

The case of the Institut del Teatre ended with the resignation of director Magda Puyo and protests by students. It still remains to be seen what will happen with accusations against teachers who are no longer part of the staff.