Harassment and sexual harassment
Lund University has a zero-tolerance policy towards harassment and sexual harassment. If you find yourself in a situation that makes you feel targeted, it is important to let the University know so that we can help you and deal with the situation.
What is harassment and sexual harassment?
Harassment is conduct that violates a person’s dignity and that is associated with one of the grounds of discrimination.
The seven grounds of discrimination are:
- age
- disability
- ethnicity
- religion or other belief
- sexual orientation
- sex
- transgender identity or expression.
This may include comments, pejorative jokes, gestures or exclusion.
Sexual harassment is conduct of a sexual nature that offends someone’s dignity. This includes both verbal and physical actions. Examples include groping or staring at another person in an intrusive manner. It might also be a matter of unwelcome compliments, invitations or insinuations. It is the individual subjected to the conduct who determines what is unwelcome.
Harassment and sexual harassment are two forms of discrimination.
What to do if you are being targeted
The first thing you should do is tell the person who is subjecting you to harassment or sexual harassment that you feel uncomfortable and want them to stop. You could also ask someone you trust to speak to the person who has made you feel vulnerable.
Tell someone at the University about the incident
It is important that you notify the University if you feel subjected to harassment or sexual harassment. You can do this with a report in the University’s reporting system, known as the IA system.
How to report an incident in the IA system
You can also tell a lecturer, a study adviser or another member of staff about what happened.
By informing a member of staff or reporting the incident via the IA system, the relevant personnel will be made aware of what has happened and will be able to investigate and follow up on the incident.
You must never face reprisals (negative consequences) for reporting such an incident to the University.
An incident reported anonymously is difficult to investigate and address. The staff members need to speak to those involved and to those who have seen or heard what happened.
If you still wish to remain anonymous, you can ask someone else to log the incident in the IA system on your behalf. It is preferable to ask your student health and safety representative. They will write in the report that they are doing so as student health and safety representative on behalf of a fellow student.
You should report harassment and sexual harassment to the police
You should report it to the police if you suspect that you have been subjected to harassment or sexual harassment, as these are criminal offences.
The University does not report incidents to the police itself, but can help you to file a report. Please contact a security coordinator at Security and Environment if you need assistance with this.
Contact details for the security coordinators at Security and Environment
You are entitled to support
If you feel that you are being targeted, you can seek advice and support from your student union, your student health and safety representative or the student ombudsman. If you need to talk to someone, you can book an appointment with the Student Health Centre. You will find the relevant contact details under Contact information.
Support you can offer as a fellow student
If you see or hear anything that could be perceived as harassment or sexual harassment, please tell the lecturer or the person in charge of the course or study programme what has happened.
Remember not to spread rumours or speak ill of a student in front of others. Doing so only makes the situation worse for everyone and damages the work environment.
How an investigation is conducted
Once the person responsible for the course or study programme is made aware of the situation, they will ensure that the behaviour stops. They will also investigate what has happened.
If the person in charge considers that there are reasonable grounds for suspicion (that the matter may involve harassment or sexual harassment), the incident is reported to the University’s Disciplinary Board. The Disciplinary Board, in turn, conducts an investigation. During the investigation, everyone involved will have the opportunity to give their account of what happened. An investigation might take a few weeks or several months to complete.
If you are involved in the investigation, you will receive further information about the process from the Disciplinary Board. You can read more about disciplinary offences and the Disciplinary Board on the following page:
Cheating, disruption and harassment
If you experience other forms of discrimination
The University does not investigate any forms of discrimination other than harassment and sexual harassment. However, you can report other forms of discrimination to the Discrimination Ombudsman (DO). Find out more about other forms of discrimination and how to make a complaint on their website:
The Equality Ombudsman’s website
Although the University does not investigate other forms of discrimination, it is still a good idea to tell your lecturer or the person in charge of the course or study programme about your experience. The issue can then be incorporated into the University’s systematic efforts to prevent discrimination.
Contact information
Contact the person responsible for the programme, student union, student health and safety representative or equivalent within the department/faculty or equivalent.