A group of non-governmental organizations criticized the decision of the Council of the Ethics Committee of the University of Montenegro (UCG) rejecting the proposal for violation of academic integrity, submitted by the Center for Civic Education (CGO) in connection with the misogynistic and sexist performance of assistant professor at the Faculty of Philosophy, Aleksandar Stamatović, in the show "Neki to they love it hot" on TV Adria.
The Council judged that Stamatović's performance was not in contradiction with the UCG Code of Ethics.
"Council members - Predrag Janković, Saša Raičević and Goran Radonjić believe that Stamatović's 'concentration on what is below and above' the journalist's T-shirt is a 'show of affinity towards the spirit of the journalist', and not sexism, which represents the most banal form of gender discrimination, which The reputation of the UCG is being damaged. The fact that the mentioned members of the Council do not understand the concept of discrimination, which is prohibited by Article 8 of the Constitution of Montenegro and the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination, which defines it as "any unjustified, legal or factual, direct or indirect discrimination or unequal treatment , i.e. failing to act towards one person, or a group of persons in relation to other persons, as well as excluding, limiting or giving priority to a person in relation to other persons, which is based, among other things, on gender, gender identity, sexual orientation'". writes in the statement signed by the Center for Women's Rights, Action for Human Rights, Spektra Association, Association of Youth with Handicap of Montenegro, Kvir Montenegro, Stana, Safe Women's House, Juventas, SOS Telephone for women and children victims of violence Nikšić.
They explained, as they stated in a way that the members of the Council could understand, "Stamatović would certainly not express his 'affinity towards the spirit' of the male presenter the way he did towards the female presenter, in the way that he treats her as an object, and not as a professional in which she is show invited to talk about current social and political topics".
"Therefore, Stamatović's discriminatory behavior can in no way be justified by 'freedom of expression', as the three-member Council absurdly states in its decision on the rejection of the proposal for violation of academic integrity from September 20, 2024. We do not want to believe that the decision of the mentioned members of the Council is representative a reflection of UCG, whose code of ethics, among other things, promotes humanistic principles and human rights (paragraph 10 chapter II Moral and professional principles)".
The group of NGOs called on the conscientious academic community to publicly disassociate itself from the decision of the three-member Council of the Ethics Committee of the UCG, initiate changes and introduce an amendment to the Code of Ethics that would clearly prescribe the prohibition of sexist behavior towards women.
"We do not agree with a University that normalizes sexist and misogynistic speech, an insidious sign of omnipresent male-centric, patriarchal solidarity. A special responsibility to show zero tolerance for any form of discrimination against women is borne by the University's leadership, which recently adopted the report on the launch of the 'Gender Studies' program. This the study has no place in the space where one agrees to the narrative of belittling another being, because of any of its characteristics, especially gender," the announcement concludes.
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