Victimisation, discrimination, harassment and sexual harassment

Victimisation

Victimisation is defined as actions that are directed against one or more employees in an offensive manner and that can result in ill health or in those employees being excluded from the workplace community (Swedish Work Environment Authority Statute Book, OSA 2015:4). It could, for example, be about:

• being called names
• being excluded from meetings
• being deliberately withheld information
• being ostracized
• being put down in front of others
• being unfairly accused of things

Victimisation can also occur online, for example in social media.

Temporary differences of opinion, conflicts and collaborative problems are not regarded as victimisation.

Victimization can also occur digitally, such as on social media. Other examples of situations that normally do not constitute victimization are:

• receiving informed and reasonable critical feedback on work performance
• not being granted requests for working hours, training, benefits, salary increases or similar when there are objective grounds.
• when the head of department/equivalent directs and allocates work in accordance with the right to manage.
• an isolated incident where someone has been upset or expressed themselves in a clumsy manner

Discrimination

Discrimination refers to unfavourable treatment that is associated with one of the grounds of discrimination: sex, transgender identity or expression, ethnicity, religion or other belief, disability, sexual orientation or age. Unfavourable treatment can involve someone not receiving an improvement, a benefit or a service, for example.

Harassment

Harassment is conduct that violates a person’s dignity and that is associated with one of the grounds of discrimination: sex, transgender identity or expression, ethnicity, religion or other belief, disability, sexual orientation or age. Harassment can involve disparaging, ridiculing or generalising remarks, for example.

Sexual harassment

Sexual harassment means conduct of a sexual nature that violates someone’s dignity. This may involve comments, gestures or ostracism. Apart from comments, sexual harassment can also involve unwelcome touching, unwelcome compliments, invitations, allusions or images and videos with sexist implications.

The employer has a duty to investigate and an obligation to take measures to put a stop to offensive behaviour. The employer also has an obligation to prevent conditions in the work environment that could give rise to violations. (stated in the intro but can be useful to begin with in case anyone looking information goes straight to this heading).

Talk with your manager

If you feel you are being targeted, it is important to talk with your head of department/equivalent. If you feel you have been targeted by your manager, contact the manager’s superior.

It is a good idea to note down what has happened immediately (when, where, who, what). Specific descriptions provide a basis for future action and memories tend to fade.

Speak out against undesired behaviour

If you are subjected to unwelcome behaviour, it is good if you personally tell the person that their behaviour is not OK and you want it to stop. The person behaving in this way towards you may be unaware of the effect their behaviour has on you.

Under the Discrimination Act, for it to be a case of harassment or sexual harassment, the harasser must realise how their conduct is perceived. It is therefore important that the person subjected to such behaviour makes it clear to the harasser that their behaviour is unpleasant and unwelcome. In certain situations, however, the offensive behaviour may be so obvious that no clarification is needed from the person who feels targeted.

Support to help you dare to talk with the perpetrator

If you are personally unable to object when it happens, talk with your head of department/equivalent to obtain help in making it clear that this is unwelcome. You can also obtain help from a union representative, a safety representative or someone else at the workplace whom you trust. Read more about support in the section below.

Your head of department/equivalent can help you obtain counselling support via the occupational health service. You can also contact a higher manager if necessary.

You can obtain support and advice from your trade union or your safety representative. If you are a doctoral student, you can receive support from your doctoral student representative.

You can also, if necessary, contact the public medical services.

If you wish to be anonymous, you can contact the occupational health service for an anonymous consultation. Talking about events anonymously can feel safe, but rarely leads to your receiving the help you need. However, an anonymous consultation can help you dare to talk about it so that your employer is in a position to be able to act.

Anonymous consultations

As a colleague of a person who feels targeted, or of a person who has been accused, there are things you can do too. You can inform your line manager/supervisor, or if necessary a superior manager, as long as the person who has been targeted has first been informed.

If the line manager/supervisor is not the person responsible for investigating the matter according to the order of delegation and division of working duties, they are required to pass the matter on to the manager responsible.

Do not spread rumours or say negative things about a colleague in other people’s hearing. This makes the situation worse for everyone and does even more damage to the work environment.

If the University becomes aware that someone feels they have been subjected to discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment or victimisation, the University has an obligation to investigate the circumstances. The purpose of the investigation is not to settle the question of guilt but to put a stop to the offensive behaviour, prevent ill health and create a good work environment.

Find out what has happened

An investigation begins with individual interviews with the parties concerned about what has happened, so as to clarify the course of events. The next step is to report the individuals’ accounts so that each party gets to hear the other’s version. Depending on what comes to light, further steps are taken, such as interviews with any witnesses, and a joint meeting where the individuals concerned talk about what has happened in a secure environment. Persons providing support may be involved if necessary.

Measures for a good work environment

Every situation is unique and needs to be handled on its own merits. Sometimes an external investigation of what has happened is necessary. In some situations, there may be a case for conflict resolution or a work environment inspection, for example.

Forward-looking measures are important to avoid similar situations arising in future. All individuals concerned are expected to cooperate in any work environment measures that are decided on. The goal is a good work environment for all parties.

Organisational and social work environment can influence events

It may also be the case that organisational and social work environment factors have led to the situation that has arisen. In that case, the head of department/equivalent needs to find solutions together with the staff for whatever is not working, for example by clarifying roles or procedures at the workplace. If necessary, the measures can continue for a long time.

If you feel you have been targeted but want to be anonymous, the University still has an obligation to investigate and to attempt to prevent similar situations.

However, if you make an anonymous complaint, it can be difficult to take appropriate measures since the person who is accused has no opportunity to respond to the allegations. The University then has no possibility of deciding on and implementing any measures against the person who has targeted you.

In these situations the University can only implement more general measures such as information activities and training sessions.

If you wish to be anonymous, consider what might enable you to feel comfortable about telling your head of department/equivalent what has happened. Perhaps it would be possible with support from a safety representative, a union representative or someone else you trust. Doing so improves the conditions for relevant measures and a good work environment.

As the University is a public authority, any complaint and any information adding anything to the case becomes a matter of public record. In this type of case, there is often information that is subject to secrecy under the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act. This means that if someone requests access to documents in the case, the University must first conduct a secrecy assessment and, where applicable, remove anything that is subject to secrecy before the document is released. Ultimately, it is not the University but a court that decides whether any information is subject to secrecy or not. The University cannot promise in advance that a certain piece of information or a certain type of information will be subject to secrecy and will therefore not be disclosed.