sexism
The student association KVHV (Catholic Flemish High Student Association) is not recognized by the City of Ghent this year. Hafsa El-Bazioui (Green), councilor for Youth, confirms this. The KVHV board refused to distance itself from a much-discussed lecture by Jeff Hoeyberghs.
This month, the City of Ghent again considered the lecture that plastic surgeon Jeff Hoeyberghs gave to Ghent University in December 2019. There he made a series of sexist comments, for which he was taken to court and convicted.
Hoeyberghs’ legal options to oppose this have been exhausted for several months. That was the signal for the City of Ghent to once again ask the KVHV, the organizer of the lecture, to distance itself from Hoeyberghs’ statements. The students also had to guarantee that something like this would not happen again.
Deadline
The KVHV was given until March 8, which is not coincidentally International Women’s Day. But that deadline was not met, says El-Bazioui (Green), who, as Alderman for Youth, is responsible for the recognition of student associations. “The deadline was not respected, which means the alliance cannot be recognized this academic year.”
Without recognition from the City of Ghent, the KVHV cannot claim subsidies from the city. The association is also now denied access to the Gravensteen, where the association annually organizes the Uylenspiegel festivals. The KVHV is considering legal action to challenge that decision, the association reports to VRT.
Recognized student associations must comply with an anti-discrimination clause from the City of Ghent. This states, among other things, that there may be no form of discrimination on the grounds of gender. Third parties, in this case Hoeyberghs, must also comply with this rule. The KVHV had to reconfirm in time that it would respect the clause, which did not happen.