The Lviv region police have begun checking information about allegations of harassment against Professor Yosyp Los of the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv.
This was reported to Babel by Svitlana Dobrovolska, a spokeswoman for the Lviv region police.
As of the morning of February 26, the police had not received any reports from the victims. Law enforcement officers learned about the incident from social media and are currently investigating the information.
NGL.media journalist Kateryna Rodak publicly wrote about the harassment by a lecturer at the Faculty of Journalism of the I. Franko Lviv National University, Yosyp Los, on Facebook. She spoke about the events that happened to her at the age of 19.
According to her, Yosyp Los locked himself in his office with her to take the test, and “at some point he took my hand and started stroking it, lifting up the sleeve of his sweater”. He also said that it was time for the girl to get pregnant, stop talking to her friends, and stop wearing jeans with bare knees because it “excites and distracts the teachers”.
In the comments under Kateryna Rodakʼs post, other women also shared their stories. However, the professor himself denied all the accusations and called it a provocation and absurdity:
"It was absolutely nothing, leave me alone. I categorically do not want to deal with people who have no conscience. Provocateurs! They do not like that I stand up for Ukraine. Itʼs all a lie, itʼs slander. I do not want to deal with people who have no conscience," he said in a comment to Suspilne.
Acting Dean of the Faculty of Journalism at the university Maryan Lozynskyi said that Yosyp Los was suspended from teaching classes during an internal investigation. The university will hold a meeting of the ethics commission on February 27 regarding this incident. Lozynskyi noted that he has not received any complaints from students accusing Yosyp Los of harassment.
- Professor of the Department of Foreign Press and Information at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv Yosyp Los began teaching in 1971. Before that, he worked in editorial offices. During his professional career, he wrote over 1 250 scientific, journalistic, and analytical articles.
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