Contacting and Reporting suspected Discrimination, Bullying or (sexual) Harassment

The WGEI (Working Group on Equality Issues) informs, advises and supports people in cases of discrimination based on gender, age, ethnicity, religion/belief and sexual orientation, as well as in cases of sexist behavior and/or sexual harassment and suspected bullying.

The WGEI is obliged to maintain confidentiality in the performance of its duties. Your concerns will be treated confidentially on request.

Your report of experienced or observed discrimination will be anonymized on request. Personal data will not be passed on to third parties.

In addition to the previous option of contacting the WGEI and its members directly in person, by telephone or by e-mail, we have also been offering the following registration form since November 2020.
 

You can send us a report stating your name or anonymously. Please note that we can only investigate reports if you provide us with a detailed and complete description of the incident (persons involved, what happened, location, time, approximate clock time, other observers, etc.). Please also note that we can only contact you if we have an e-mail address or telephone number in case of queries or if you wish to be accompanied.

If you do not wish to report an observation of discriminatory behavior/incidents at the UWK as an affected person yourself, but as a witness, we will also record this - anonymously if you wish.

This will help us to gain a better overview of such incidents at the UWK and, if necessary, to initiate steps and measures.

NOTE: To ensure your anonymity if desired, we recommend using an anonymized e-mail address for the report.

1. Contact WGEI

Members of the university - including students - should contact an WGEI member or the WGEI office if they fear or have experienced discrimination, sexual and/or gender-based harassment or bullying and/or have witnessed it. This can be done either in person (telephone, email) or via the reporting form on the homepage.

2. Initial consultation

During an initial meeting, the facts of the case are documented while maintaining confidentiality and the competence of the WGEI is checked. Those affected receive initial information on the legal situation as well as other offices to which they can turn for support.

If the WGEI is responsible, the next steps will be discussed in a subsequent strategy meeting based on your individual needs and the WGEI’s legal assessment.

If it turns out during the initial consultation that the WGEI cannot support the affected person(s) due to a lack of competence, we will try to find another suitable office.

3. Strategy meeting

The strategy meeting is held in the presence of a second WGEI member/ in the WGEI office and, if requested by the affected person, with the involvement of representatives of other bodies, such as the works council.

The aim of the discussion is to develop possible courses of action. The affected person decides for themselves what they want to achieve and what steps they want to take - with or without the intervention/support of the WGEI.

Variant 3a) Intervention desired:

If an intervention/support by the WGEI is desired, the following steps are possible, for example, taking into account the legal assessment of the WGEI:

• Discussion with the other party,
• Interview with the supervisor, rector
• Mediation meeting between the parties,
• Request for an expert opinion to the Federal Equal Treatment Commission,
• Information on the involvement of the Arbitration Commission by the parties concerned for mediation in disputes between members of the university (mediation procedure).

 After the completion of the accompaniment, with the consent of the accompanied person, a post-conversation is held to discuss updates and developments.

Variant 3b) Intervention NOT desired:

The discrimination or suspected discrimination is documented anonymously.

4. Completion of the consultation process.