Local Resources and Laws - School in Argentina

Call the police at 911 and call the Middlebury staff, who will support you whether you choose to file a complaint or not.

Immediate Safety and Support

  • Go to a safe place: your room/residence, a friend’s room/residence, or anywhere you will feel safe. If your safety is in immediate jeopardy, either call the police at 911 or go directly to the nearest police station (« comisaría») to report a sexual assault incident.
  • If you want to be accompanied to the police station and/or the hospital, please call the Middlebury Coordinator Laura Omaechevarría at +54 911 51047685. We encourage you to contact someone you trust: no matter how late it is, you should not be alone. Call Laura, a close friend, or your host family.

Medical Care

  • We encourage you to seek immediate medical attention, even if you’re not sure if you have any physical injuries. At the emergency room, you may be treated for injuries, tested and treated for sexually transmitted infections, and women may be tested for pregnancy; however, unless you decide to file a report and/or press charges with the police, no rape evidence collection procedure will take place.
  • If the incident occurred within the last 24 hours, if possible, try to preserve any evidence before your medical exam by not washing or changing clothes, brushing teeth or hair, eating, or taking other actions that might compromise evidence. Even if more time has passed, it may still be possible to collect evidence, and it is certainly possible to receive medical care and testing. Collecting evidence in no way obligates you to Middlebury or file a complaint with local law enforcement authorities, but it preserves this information in the event that you decide to do either of those things, or seek a protection order, at a later date. However, as indicated above, please know that unless you file a complaint with the Argentine police, no rape evidence collection procedure will take place.
  • Should you choose not to report the crime to the police, we still highly encourage you to seek medical attention. We recommend to visit the Hospital Alemán, that is covered by your health insurance.
  • Hospital Alemán (Sala de Emergencias): § Beruti 2557 (esquina Av. Pueyrredón)

Mental Health Counseling, Advocacy, and Other Support Services

  • We encourage you to consider talking with a confidential counselor. You have complete control over what information you do or do not choose to share. You may or may not feel ready to talk about what happened, but in either case, counselors can provide a confidential and safe space to explore any feelings or challenges that have arisen for you after your experience. They can also provide you with information and support as you consider your needs, and can help you to connect with other resources, such as a victim’s advocate or counselor (contact information is below).
  • If you are not sure what you need right now, but you would like some confidential information and/or support while exploring your options, call 137 (opcion 1). A team of psychologists and social workers from the Victims against Violence Program answers your call or WhatsApp message and provides you with support and information about your rights.
  • Middlebury School in Argentina can put you in touch with a psychologist/psychiatrist if you feel the need to do so.
  • Religious and spiritual advisors are also confidential resources who can provide emotional support and help you to gather additional information and connect to resources.

Sexual Assault Victims’ Assistance in the City of Buenos Aires

Protocol With Criminal Complaint

  • A criminal complaint in case of sexual assault may be filed exclusively by the victim at the police station nearest the crime scene. It is important not to wash before reporting the crime.
  • The police staff will summon the Flying Squad for Urgent Intervention with Sexual Assault Victims (Brigada Móvil de Intervención en Urgencias con Víctimas de Delitos Sexuales). The service is guaranteed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It operates only in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires.
  • A psychologist and a social worker are part of this squad, and they will assist the victim at the police station and later, take them to a hospital.
  • There, preventive HIV treatment, antibiotics for sexually transmitted diseases (ETS, for its Spanish acronym) and emergency contraceptive medication will be provided, and a forensic expert will examine the victim.
  • Later, the victim will be taken to the Identification Unit (División de Individualización Criminal), where they will be able to identify the assailant through an identikit. They will be accompanied to the Forensic Medical Center as well, in accordance with the provisions of the Judge.
  • Once the medical examination is over, the Flying Squad can also take the victim and their relatives to their residence.
  • This Team will also be present when supplemental reports or pictures recognition are needed to identify the assailant.

Protocol Without Criminal Complaint

  • In Argentina there is a National Protocol in place to assist victims of rape and sexual assault. This protocol states that the victim’s right to access medical attention and professional support prevails even when the (adult) victim decides not to report the crime.
  • In case the victim prefers not to report the incident to the police, they must ask for preventive medication for HIV and sexually transmitted diseases at the Hospital Alemán Emergency Room (at Av. Pueyrredón and Beruti) and, at their own discretion, for contraceptive medication.

In both cases, it is necessary to contact the Middlebury Program staff at once:

  • Director-School in Argentina: Claudio Gonzalez Chiaramonte (+549) 11 4180 2705
  • Coordinator: Laura Omaechevarría (+549) 11 5104 7685

Protection Order

  • In Argentina, a Protection Order or “restricción de acercamiento” is rendered by Civil judges; its duration is mandated by the judge and can be renewed if necessary. The “restricción de acercamiento” is issued to urgently protect victims of domestic violence who provide evidence establishing the likely nature of the danger and violent behaviors.
  • They rarely apply to victims of all forms of interpersonal violence, unless you provide proof of being stalked after the initial incident. To have access to a protection order, it’s mandatory to have reported the sexual violence incident to the Police before. A victim of dating violence, and not domestic violence, also has the right to request these measures provided that they can prove that they and the accused party were in a relationship.
  • Residential Accommodations: It is sometimes possible to relocate students on a temporary or permanent basis when two students’ residential proximity feels unsafe or disruptive.

Sexual Violence Resources and Information in Argentina for Individuals of All Gender Identities

Contacts:

Definitions of Crimes
In Middlebury’s efforts to obtain and provide definitions of the following crimes or terms, e.g., Sexual Assault, Dating Violence, Domestic Violence, Stalking, and Consent in reference to sexual activity, which are prohibited by Middlebury’s Policy and which may also be prohibited by law in Argentina, listed below please find some or all of the crimes or terms as locally defined by Argentina to the extent known by Middlebury on information and belief at this time.
English follows Spanish below.

Violencia Doméstica
La ley 26485, Ley de Protección Integral a las Mujeres, establece la definición de violencia doméstica contra las mujeres en su artículo 6. Estableciendo que se entiende por violencia doméstica: aquella ejercida contra las mujeres por un integrante del grupo familiar, independientemente del espacio físico donde esta ocurra, que dañe la dignidad, el bienestar, la integridad física, psicológica, sexual, económica o patrimonial, la libertad, comprendiendo la libertad reproductiva y el derecho al pleno desarrollo de las mujeres. Se entiende por grupo familiar el originado en el parentesco sea por consanguinidad o por afinidad, el matrimonio, las uniones de hecho y las parejas o noviazgos. Incluye las relaciones vigentes o finalizadas, no siendo requisito la convivencia.

Domestic Violence
Law 26485, the Law on the Comprehensive Protection of Women, defines domestic violence against women in Article 6, Establishing What Is Understood by Domestic Violence:  “That which is committed against a woman by a member of the family group, regardless of the physical space where it occurs, in a manner that harms the woman’s dignity; well-being; physical, psychological, sexual, or financial integrity; the integrity of her assets; or her liberty, including her reproductive freedom and her right to develop her full potential. Family group is understood to mean that which is created by a relationship of consanguinity, affinity, matrimony, common-law union, domestic partnership or romance. It includes current and past relationships, and does not require cohabitation.”

Crimes Against Sexual Integrity

  • For Argentinean law, sexual abuse consists of “making bodily contact of sexual significance between one’s own body and that of another person, or by means of an instrument, without the consent of the passive subject”.  In order to constitute the crime of sexual abuse, there must be violence, threat, coercion or intimidation in a relationship of dependence, authority or power, or take advantage of the fact that the victim, for whatever reason, has not been able to freely consent to the action.
  • Sexual abuse can be simple, seriously outrageous (aggravated by virtue of the “duration or circumstances of its commission”), or sexual abuse with carnal access (rape).
  • In Argentine criminal law, sexual abuse does not consist of words alone, no matter how obscene they may be.
  • Given that complaints for this type of crime are a private matter, it must be the victim themselves who reports any sexual assault to the nearest police station.

Preserving Evidence

In addition to trying to preserve any of the physical evidence referenced above (“Medical Care”), you may want to preserve all evidence related to an incident or incidents, including any electronic information, text messages, social media posts, phone records, emails, clothing, or other documentation or materials. Even if you don’t wish to pursue a complaint with Middlebury or local law enforcement or seek an order of protection at this time, it may be a good idea to preserve the evidence in a safe place in case you change your mind at a later date. You may also want to consider writing down and preserving all of the details you remember about your experience(s), as well as the names of individuals you believe may possess relevant information and/or evidence.

Privacy

As you consider your choices and resources, you may have concerns about maintaining your privacy. Middlebury will handle information in a sensitive manner and will endeavor to protect your privacy to the extent we can do so and still meet our obligations to respond to reports of sexual misconduct, domestic and dating violence and misconduct, stalking, and/or related retaliation. Although the Clery Act (a federal statute) requires Middlebury to report annually the number of sexual misconduct, dating and domestic violence, and stalking reports we receive, and to issue public campus warnings as appropriate, Middlebury will not include the names of complainants or other personally identifying information in either disclosure. However, if there is an independent investigation, lawsuit, or criminal proceeding related to sexual misconduct, domestic or dating violence or misconduct, stalking, or related retaliation, those involved or others may be required by law to provide testimony or documents (e.g., reports, witness statements, and any other information gathered or obtained by Middlebury in a particular matter).

Confidentiality

You may want clarification about which resources are confidential (individuals who are legally and ethically bound to keep confidential all information shared with them in the course of providing counsel and support, except under certain unusual circumstances), and which resources are not (individuals who are required to report any incident they learn of that may involve sexual misconduct, domestic or dating violence or misconduct, or stalking to an HRO or the Civil Rights and Title IX Coordinator).

  • Confidential Resources: In general, communications between a person seeking care and a medical or mental health professional, religious advisor, or trained sexual assault advocate are confidential. The medical, mental health, and religious professionals at Middlebury, and their off-campus counterparts, respect and protect confidential communications from students, faculty, and staff to the extent they are legally able to do so. These professionals may have to breach a confidence, however, when they perceive a serious risk of danger or threat to any person or property. They may also be required by law to report certain crimes (e.g., any allegation of sexual or physical abuse of a person under 18).
  • Nonconfidential Resources:  All faculty and staff members, including residential life staff and ombudspersons, who are not medical or counseling professionals, or clergy, are not permitted to honor requests for confidentiality. Nonconfidential faculty or staff who learn of an incident of alleged sexual misconduct, domestic or dating violence or misconduct, stalking, or related retaliation involving a student are required to report that information to an HRO or the Civil Rights and Title IX Coordinator, all of whom are responsible for ensuring that individuals who may have experienced this prohibited conduct receive information about their rights, resources, and support options.

Filing a Complaint with Middlebury

We are always deeply concerned when behavior that may constitute sexual misconduct, dating or domestic violence or misconduct, or stalking comes to our attention, and we would very much like to gather more information. 

Sexual misconduct (including sexual assault and sexual exploitation), domestic and dating violence and misconduct, stalking, and related retaliation are strictly prohibited under Middlebury’s Non-Discrimination Policy. We encourage you to file a complaint with Middlebury by contacting the Civil Rights and Title IX Coordinator or a Human Relations Officer (HRO).

Our policies are designed with the needs of students and employees in mind, and we make every effort to conduct investigations with care and sensitivity. If you are considering filing a complaint but want to learn more about the investigation and adjudication process before doing so, we encourage you to request an informational meeting with the Civil Rights and Title IX Coordinator.

You do not need to share any information about your experience during this conversation, and you are welcome to bring a support person with you if that would be helpful.

If you have concerns that you may be retaliated against by anyone at Middlebury for filing a complaint, please know that retaliation by any member of the Middlebury community against someone because they have reported an incident or participated in an investigation is explicitly prohibited. Middlebury will take steps to prevent retaliation and will take strong responsive action if retaliation occurs.

Reporting to Law Enforcement

You also have the right to report the incident to law enforcement and/or seek a protective order from a court (or to choose not to do so). These options are available to you regardless of whether you choose to file a complaint with Middlebury. If you would like to request such assistance or would just like to learn more about these options, please contact the Director (cgonzal@middlebury.edu) or the Coordinator (momaechevarria@middlebury.edu) of the School in Argentina.

Informal Resolution Options

Informal resolution is a voluntary option that does not involve a hearing process or other determination about whether or not a violation of Middlebury policy occurred. At any time prior to reaching a determination regarding responsibility, Middlebury may facilitate an informal resolution process where requested by one party and agreed to by the other party. If a party requests the initiation of an informal resolution process and the Civil Rights and Title IX Coordinator agrees that the matter is appropriate for informal resolution, both parties will be given information about Middlebury’s informal resolution options.

A party may withdraw from the informal resolution process at any time prior to their execution of a written informal resolution agreement. After a final informal resolution is agreed to in writing between the parties, neither party may initiate a formal resolution process regarding substantially the same factual allegations. Agreement to participate in an informal resolution does not prevent you from filing a complaint with the police.

Middlebury’s Investigation and Adjudication Process

Middlebury’s process for addressing complaints of sexual assault, domestic and dating violence and misconduct, stalking, and related retaliation is summarized below. In the event of any differences between this summary and the more detailed terms in the Middlebury Handbook, the language in the Middlebury Handbook prevails over the language of this summary. Middlebury’s procedures:

  • are prompt, fair, and impartial from the initial investigation to the final result;
  • are conducted by professionals who receive, at a minimum, annual training on issues related to sexual misconduct, dating and domestic violence and misconduct, and stalking, and on how to conduct a prompt, fair, and impartial investigation and adjudication process that protects the safety of complainants and promotes accountability;
  • where applicable, provide both parties with the same opportunities to have others present during any related meeting, including the opportunity to be accompanied to any related meeting or proceeding by an advisor of their choice;
  • provide for simultaneous notification, in writing, to both parties of:
    • the result of Middlebury’s disciplinary proceedings, Middlebury’s procedures for the complainant and the respondent to appeal the result of our disciplinary procedures, if available,
    • any change to the result before it becomes final, and
    • when the result becomes final;
  • are conducted in a manner that is consistent with Middlebury’s policies and transparent to both parties;
  • include timely notice of meetings at which the complainant and respondent may be present;
  • provide timely and equal access to both parties and appropriate officials to any information that may be used during the process; and
  • are conducted by professionals who do not have a conflict of interest or bias for or against the complainant or the respondent.

Middlebury utilizes trained, experienced investigators to conduct investigations into complaints of sexual misconduct, domestic and dating violence and misconduct, and stalking. When hearings are required, Middlebury utilizes trained, experienced administrators (Middlebury’s Human Relations Officers or HROs) to serve as hearing officers and make the official determination as to whether the policies under investigation were violated.

In general, these matters are resolved through the Title IX Investigation and Resolutions Procedure and the investigation process proceeds as follows:

  • The investigator interviews parties and witnesses and collects evidence.
  • After the investigator has completed witness interviews and the gathering of evidence, the investigator will prepare a preliminary report.
  • Middlebury will provide each party with an equal opportunity to inspect and review any evidence obtained as part of the investigation that is directly related to the allegations raised and the preliminary report.
  • The complainant and the respondent will have an opportunity to review the preliminary report within the same time period and provide written responses to the report.
  • After considering any written response submitted by either party the investigator will prepare a final report that fairly summarizes relevant evidence and provides a recommendation as to whether the respondent should be found responsible for violating the policy provisions at issue. This report is shared with the parties and the HRO serving as the hearing officer for the investigation at least 10 days prior to the hearing on the matter.
  • The HRO presides over a hearing on the matter. Each party has the option, through an advisor, to cross-examine any witness or party whose statements will be considered in determining whether a violation has occurred. Statements from parties or witnesses who do not submit to cross-examination may not be considered by the HRO in making a determination. Parties are never required to directly interact with or be cross-examined by each other.
  • Using the preponderance of the evidence standard (“more likely than not”), the HRO then makes the official determination as to whether the policies under investigation have been violated. If a policy violation is found, the sanctions are determined by a designated Middlebury administrator based on the status of the respondent (e.g., whether the individual found to have violated policy is a student, faculty member, or staff member). The official determination regarding responsibility for a violation as well as any sanction to be imposed is communicated in writing to both parties simultaneously.
  • Both parties are provided with equal appeal rights, as applicable, to the extent appeal rights are provided. The governing, detailed procedures are outlined further in the Title IX Formal Grievance Procedure.

Sanctions for students found to have violated the Non-Discrimination Policy could include written reprimands, probationary status, an official letter of discipline, or suspension or expulsion from any or all Middlebury program(s) in which the student is enrolled or participating. Other nondisciplinary actions deemed appropriate may also be implemented (e.g., remedies applied to the respondent to address the needs of the complainant, including but not limited to room changes, class changes, building restrictions, extracurricular activity restrictions, modification of No Contact Orders to favor the complainant, and other actions to preserve the rights of the complainant to a safe environment). Although sanctions for violation(s) of this policy can include any form of discipline as stated in this section, students found to have committed sexual assault will most likely receive a sanction of suspension or expulsion.

Middlebury may also provide notice of the matter to the appropriate supervisory authority of any Middlebury program in which the respondent intends to participate, who may consider this information in determining admission and/or other program participation parameters. Notification may also be provided to the home institution of non-Middlebury undergraduate and graduate students or any other program in which the student is enrolled or to which the student is pursuing enrollment.

Sanctions for employees found to have violated the Non-Discrimination Policy may include written reprimands, or suspension or termination of employment. Nondisciplinary measures (e.g., No Contact Orders or reassignment of duties or work areas) might also be taken as deemed appropriate under the circumstances.

There are some matters which may not be resolved through the Title IX Investigation and Resolutions Procedure in which case they will be resolved through other policies such as the Non-Discrimination Investigation and Resolutions Procedure or the General Conduct procedures.

Additional Questions

Middlebury’s Civil Rights and Title IX Coordinator is available to answer any additional questions you may have. Please contact the coordinator to arrange for a connection in person or by phone or email.

If you have experienced sexual misconduct, domestic or dating violence or misconduct, or stalking, you are not alone. There are many resources at Middlebury on campus and off campus that can offer support, information, and care.