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Stop sexual harassment

Action plan against sexual harassment and stalking in the workplace

"At the University Medical Center, we are committed to treating each other with collegiality and respect. For us, responsible relationships in the workplace include openness, fairness, respect, and recognizing and respecting boundaries—both our own and those of others. Sexual harassment and stalking are violations of personal boundaries that violate human dignity and seriously disrupt the working environment. We therefore expect all employees to respect and observe personal boundaries in their interpersonal relationships. As a university hospital, we do not tolerate any form of sexual harassment or stalking, but are vigilant in identifying such misconduct and punishing it consistently."

The Board of Directors of the Medical Center – University of Freiburg

Sexual harassment is unilateral, unwanted, sexually determined behavior, which also includes unwanted sexual acts and requests for such acts, sexually determined physical contact, comments of a sexual nature, and the unwanted display and visible posting of sexualized images. The behavior aims to or results in violating the dignity of the person concerned. This is also the case when
an environment characterized by intimidation, hostility, humiliation, degradation, or insults is created. Sexual harassment
is particularly serious when there is a relationship of dependency.

Specific examples of sexual harassment include:

  • any unwanted touching
  • suggestive and offensive remarks
  • Jokes and remarks of a sexual nature
  • obscene and defamatory requests
  • hanging up and displaying photos of scantily clad or naked people and drawings with sexual content
  • Requests for sexual favors or acts
  • Physical threats, coercion

Stalking refers to the repeated unlawful pursuit, stalking, persistent harassment, threatening, and terrorizing of a person against their will, including physical and psychological violence.
As a rule, stalking is not a clearly definable single act. Rather, it consists of a series of acts over a longer period of time, which may include criminal offenses such as defamation, slander, damage to property, coercion, bodily harm, and stalking.
Stalking can happen to anyone. People of all ages, professions, incomes, religions, and nationalities are affected.
Specific examples of stalking include:

  • unwanted surveillance and observation of a person
  • unwanted recording of images
  • unwanted presence of the stalker in the vicinity
  • unwanted pursuit, approach, attempts to make contact
  • unwanted phone calls
  • Unwanted messages left via the internet or telephone
  • Unwanted gifts

Victims of stalking should defend themselves against the stalker as early as possible. Civil and criminal law remedies are available for this purpose.

Those affected should defend themselves to prevent the harasser from continuing their attacks. It may be helpful to clearly state that the behavior is unwanted. Examples of phrases to use are:

  • Stop!
  • I don't want that!
  • Stop that!
  • Don't touch me!

By naming the act precisely, the taboo of silence is broken and responsibility for crossing the line is returned to the other person.

The incident should definitely be documented in writing as soon as possible:

  • Date, time, place
  • Name of the person who committed the harassment
  • Facts: What exactly happened? Who did what and how?
  • Names of direct witnesses

It may be advisable for those affected to first discuss the incident with someone they trust. In addition, they have the legal right to contact the next higher-level managers who were not involved in the incident, as well as the Staff Unit Labor Law.

The following contact points are also available at the hospital:

The following counseling services are available outside the hospital:


The Federal Association of Women's Counseling Centers and Women's Emergency Hotlines provides a list of other local support services that can be searched by postal code.


Confidentiality: The agencies involved will maintain absolute confidentiality regarding the information and incidents, personal data, and conversations with third parties who are not involved in the proceedings.

1. The facts of the case are clarified.
Initial contact is made with a trusted representative.
 

2. The trusted person contacts the Staff Unit Labor Law. The department convenes the committee.
The committee consists of a legal expert, a member of the staff council, the Equal Opportunities Officer, a psychological expert, and the respective direct managers.

3. The committee meets promptly, usually within three working days.
Both sides are heard separately.
The committee recommends possible measures. These may include:

  • The persons concerned on both sides may be suspended from duty until the matter has been finally clarified. The persons concerned are suspended, initially for one week, with continued payment of their salaries. If necessary, the suspension may be extended.
  • Written warning
  • Written warning
  • Transfer
  • Termination with notice/without notice
  • Criminal complaint or criminal charges

4. The measures decided upon will be reviewed and evaluated.

It can happen that employees are sexually harassed by patients or their relatives. In such cases, managers and all medical staff have a special responsibility. To protect employees, the patient should be dismissed immediately if this is medically justifiable. In addition, harassed employees have the option of taking further legal action.

Managers are responsible for ensuring a respectful, collegial, and harassment-free working atmosphere within their area of responsibility.
Sexual harassment can only occur in secret, in a tolerant or indifferent environment. All employees, and managers in particular, are called upon to be alert to any form of sexual harassment and to actively counteract it. All newly hired employees are informed by their manager about the content of this action plan and the measures it contains.
The Medical Center – University of Freiburg also ensures a working environment that does not allow sexual harassment to occur by providing appropriate training and prevention measures. Managers in all areas of the medical center are required to participate in training on this topic.

Basic Law (GG) Articles 1 and 2

Article 1
(1) Human dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authority.

Article 2
(1) Every person shall have the right to free development of his personality insofar as he does not violate the rights of others or offend against the constitutional order or the moral law.
(2) Every person shall have the right to life and physical integrity. The freedom of the person is inviolable. This right may only be interfered with on the basis of a law.
 

General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) §§ 1 – 3, §§ 12 – 14, § 22

§ 1 Purpose of the Act
The purpose of this Act is to prevent or eliminate discrimination on the grounds of race or ethnic origin, gender, religion or belief, disability, age, or sexual identity.

§ 2 Scope
(1) Discrimination on any of the grounds specified in § 1 is prohibited under this Act in relation to: 1. The conditions, including selection criteria and recruitment conditions, for access to employment and self-employment, regardless of field of activity and professional position, as well as for career advancement [...].

§ 3 Definitions
(3) Harassment is discrimination if unwanted conduct related to a reason specified in § 1 has the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of the person concerned and creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment.
(4) Sexual harassment is discrimination in relation to § 2 (1) sentences 1 to 4 if unwanted, sexually determined behavior, including unwanted sexual acts and requests for such acts, sexually determined physical contact, remarks of a sexual nature, and the unwanted display and visible posting of pornographic images, has the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of the person concerned, in particular if it creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment.

§ 12 Measures and obligations of the employer
(1) The employer is obliged to take the necessary measures to protect against discrimination on the grounds specified in § 1. This protection also includes preventive measures.
(2) The employer shall point out the inadmissibility of such discrimination in an appropriate manner, in particular in the context of vocational training and advanced training, and shall work to ensure that it does not occur. If the employer has trained its employees in an appropriate manner for the purpose of preventing discrimination, this shall be deemed to fulfill its obligations under paragraph 1.
(3) If employees violate the prohibition of discrimination under § 7 (1), the employer shall take the appropriate, necessary, and reasonable measures in each individual case to prevent discrimination, such as a warning, transfer, reassignment, or termination.

§ 13 Right
of complaint (1) Employees have the right to complain to the competent authorities of the business, company, or agency if they feel discriminated against in connection with their employment relationship by their employer, superiors, other employees, or third parties for one of the reasons specified in § 1. The complaint must be investigated and the result communicated to the employee who lodged the complaint.

§ 14 Right to refuse to work
If the employer takes no measures or obviously inappropriate measures to prevent harassment or sexual harassment in the workplace, the employees concerned are entitled to stop work without loss of pay, insofar as this is necessary for their protection. Section 273 of the Civil Code remains unaffected.

Section 22 Burden of proof
If, in the event of a dispute, one party provides evidence suggesting discrimination on one of the grounds specified in Section 1, the other party bears the burden of proving that there has been no violation of the provisions on protection against discrimination.


Criminal Code (StGB), § 184i, § 185, § 238

Section 184i of the Criminal Code (StGB), which came into force in November 2016, makes sexual harassment a criminal offense. According to the explanatory memorandum, "anyone who physically touches another person in a sexually determined manner and thereby harasses them" is guilty of a criminal

offense. Section 184i Sexual harassment
(1) Anyone who physically touches another person in a sexually determined manner and thereby harasses them shall be punished with imprisonment of up to two years or a fine, unless the act is punishable by a more severe penalty under other provisions of this section.
(2) In particularly serious cases, the term of imprisonment shall be from three months to five years. A particularly serious case usually exists if the act is committed jointly by several persons.
(3) The act shall only be prosecuted upon request, unless the prosecuting authority considers it necessary to intervene ex officio due to the particular public interest in prosecution.

§ 185 Insult
Insult shall be punished with imprisonment of up to one year or a fine and, if the insult is committed by means of an assault, with imprisonment of up to two years or a fine.

§ 238 Stalking
(1) Anyone who unlawfully stalks another person in a manner that is likely to seriously interfere with that person's life by persistently

  1.  seeking the physical proximity of that person,
  2. attempts to establish contact with that person using telecommunications or other means of communication or through third parties,
  3. misuses this person's personal data a) to place orders for goods or services on their behalf, or b) to cause third parties to contact them, or
  4. threatens this person with harm to their life, physical integrity, health, or freedom, or that of one of their relatives or another person close to them, or
  5. commits another comparable act.

(2) A prison sentence of three months to five years shall be imposed if the perpetrator's actions place the victim, a relative of the victim, or another person close to the victim in danger of death or serious damage to health.

(3) If the perpetrator causes the death of the victim, a relative of the victim, or another person close to the victim through the act, the penalty shall be imprisonment for one to ten years.

(4) In the cases referred to in paragraph 1, the act shall only be prosecuted upon request, unless the prosecuting authority considers it necessary to intervene ex officio due to the particular public interest in prosecution.

Here you will find the current version of the action plan against sexual harassment and stalking in the workplace.

Equal Opportunities Officer
Angelika Zimmer

Angelika Zimmer

Phone: +49 (0)761 270-61320

Fax: +49 (0)761 270 61310

angelika.zimmer@uniklinik-freiburg.de

Appointments by arrangement

Project Assistant Equal Opportunities Officer

Karina Wegner

Phone: +49 (0)761 270 61322
Fax: +49 (0)761 270 9661310
karina.wegner@uniklinik-freiburg.de
 

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