Harassment, victimisation and bullying
Here is information on what you should do and to whom you should turn in situations where you feel exposed to unacceptable behaviour. Harassment, sexual harassment, victimisation, bullying, and reprisals are all behaviours that exceed the boundaries for what is socially accepted, permitted, and in some cases, legal.
The University will not accept any form of victimisation, harassment, or sexual harassment. If such situations should occur, support is available.
What to do in the event of an incident
If you are on campus and experience yourself being harassed or victimised, try to tell the person or persons subjecting you to the behaviour that it is unwelcome. Ask someone for support if it is difficult to do so on your own. You can also communicate with them in writing.
If this does not help – turn to someone you trust, such as a teacher, programme director, student work environment representative, the Ombud for Students and PhD Students (at the Student Union), or the Student Healthcare Centre. Get help to report the incident.
If you witness a situation that you experience as harassment or victimisation of someone else, it is good if you act. Speak up if it feels safe to do so, ask the person you feel is being victimised if you can help. If you are not comfortable with doing this, contact one of the contact persons above and tell them what you have experienced.
What is victimisation and harassment?
Both victimisation and harassment are unwelcome and unacceptable behaviours that violate a person’s dignity. It is the person who experiences being subjected to these behaviours who determines what is unwelcome or offensive. Harassment, sexual harassment, and victimisation can occur in person, but also via email, text messages or social media.
Victimisation
Victimisation is characterised by words or actions experienced as insulting, offensive, or degrading by the person or persons exposed. At worst it can develop into bullying, where the behaviour is repeated regularly. Four U’s can describe how it may feel: unpleasant, uncomfortable, unimaginable, and unfair. Examples of victimisation: giving someone a derogatory nickname, excluding, or shaming someone.
Harassment
Harassment makes a person feel insulted, threatened, offended, or maltreated. The difference from victimisation is that harassment is linked to one of the seven grounds of discrimination: sex, transgender identity or expression, ethnicity, religion or other belief, disability, sexual orientation, and age. Examples of harassment: offensive behaviour, comments, gestures, exclusion, expressing ridicule or belittling generalisations.
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is behaviour of a sexual nature that violates the dignity of another person. It is both a form of discrimination (harassment) and of victimisation. Here too, the behaviour is unwelcome and unwanted. Examples of sexual harassment: someone gropes you or leers at you intrusively, unwelcome touching, compliments, invitations, or innuendoes.
The importance of reporting
It is important that the University receives information on harassment, sexual harassment, victimisation, and reprisals. This is to be able to take measures to make your study time as safe and secure as possible.
Below are the steps to follow in making a report:
- Turn to a teacher, programme director, student work environment representative, the Ombud for Students and PhD Students (at the Student Union), or the Student Healthcare Centre.
- Report in Helpdesk under the heading “Report incident” and the category "Threats, violence, harassment, abusive discrimination".
Helpdesk - Your report is handled by the relevant School, with support from the Coordinator for equal opportunities. You will be contacted in due course.
If you need someone to talk to, contact the University’s Student Healthcare Centre.
Student Healthcare Centre
If you have questions about making a report
If you are unsure of making a report, turn either to your student work environment representative, the Ombud for Students and PhD Students (at the Student Union), or the Coordinator for equal opportunities for support and advice. The Student Healthcare Centre can also help you. None of these will take your case further unless you want them to.
Staff who work with education, such as a teacher, programme director or supervisor, on the other hand, have a statutory obligation to start an inquiry. The same applies when you report your case in Helpdesk.
More on reporting victimisation and harassment
Can I make an anonymous report?
If you identify a specific person or group as subjecting you to harassment or victimisation, you cannot remain anonymous. The reason for this is that the University must be able to hear both parties in order to investigate the situation.
You can only report anonymously by talking to your student work environment representative, the Student Union’s Ombud for Students and PhD Students or the Coordinator for equal opportunities. These can take the issue further without mentioning names. The University will then work preventively with the matter.
What happens after a report is submitted?
When you have made a report, you will be invited to talk to the programme director or Head of Department. In that conversation, an initial assessment is made as to whether it is about potentially unacceptable actions or rather about experiences that have their basis in misunderstandings or the like. In order to find this out, others involved may need to be heard. If the assessment in this situation is that it is a misunderstanding, you and possibly others will receive support in resolving the conflict or situation.
If, on the other hand, it turns out to be potentially unacceptable actions, the process moves on to an investigation. Depending on the degree of seriousness, the situation is either investigated by the programme director or Head of Department or handed over to the Coordinator for equal opportunities, alternatively an external investigator. The investigation is documented and registered.
What does an investigation involve?
In an investigation of a situation, you will be asked to explain what has happened. The person carrying out the investigation will also speak to the person or persons you have identified as those subjecting you to the behaviour. They may also speak to others who may have something to add. The student work environment representative is notified of the matter.
The investigation is documented in writing and the incident registered as a formal report in Helpdesk. At the end of the investigation the Dean of your School/University Director decides on possible measures to ensure the same thing does not happen again.
You always have the right to bring a support person to meetings during the investigation. In addition, you can turn to the Student Healthcare Centre for consultation. All involved parties have the right to bring a support person to meetings as well as being entitled to support.
Prohibition against acts of reprisal
Reprisals are acts of punishment or bad treatment as a reaction to someone having called attention to or reported harassment or sexual harassment. Regardless of whether you have reported someone or something, participated in an inquiry, or rejected or yielded to harassment or sexual harassment, you are legally protected against punishment, i.e., acts of reprisal.
Follow-up and closure
Within a reasonable time period, the programme director or Head of Department must follow up with the concerned parties. The purpose is to make sure that the unwanted behaviour has ceased and to check with all parties how the present situation is experienced. When the follow-up is carried out and no further measures are at hand, the case is closed and the concerned parties informed.
