What should you do if you witness sexism or sexual harassment?

Employees and all members of the UNIL community are expected to:

  • Adopt appropriate behaviours towards all members of the university community and all external contact;
  • Respect everyone’s differences and personal boundaries in working or study relationships;
  • Contribute to creating a peaceful working and study environment;
  • Support people who may be targets of sexism or harassment.
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React

Here is what you can do if you witness sexism or  harassment:

  • Refuse to be complicit in inappropriate behaviours: for example, do not take part in inappropriate or sexist comments or jokes, or if the situation permits, speak to the person engaging in these kinds of behaviour;
  • Offer your support to the target person : talk to them, encourage them to act, point them towards the relevant bodies and make yourself available as a witness if a complaint is made;
  • In the case of cyber-bullying, report problematic messages exchanged on a social network between members of the university community to your Dean’s office.

But don’t do anything without the target person’s explicit consent!