Last week, the national newspaper Politiken ran an article on a petition reacting to a number of extremely unpleasant incidents of sexual abuse, harassment and assaults experienced by women at Danish universities. The senior management team condemns such unacceptable behaviour in the strongest possible terms.

2020.10.12 | Universitetsledelsen

It is very unsettling reading and it bears witness to completely unacceptable behaviour – behaviour which also occurs at Aarhus University. The senior management team strongly condemns any behaviour of this kind. We would like to express our great respect for, and gratitude to, the women who have come forward and who have added their own names to the petition. This requires a great deal of courage, but it helps to create the common understanding we need so much.

We know that sexism often thrives in systems characterised by hierarchical power relationships, so it’s important to be particularly vigilant here. But sexism also occurs in relationships between equals. In other words, we are facing a major issue.

According to the results of our most recent WPA, one percent of our employees had experienced sexual harassment over the previous twelve months. But because the number of cases of sexual harassment reported is very small, we have to assume that the actual number of cases is larger.

In other words, we must assume that not everyone who experiences harassment seeks support or reports the incident, for one reason or another. We have to work together to change the very culture of our shared workplace. But as leaders, we also have to ask ourselves why many people feel that they can’t ask for help? We will be working to address this question in the university’s various forums.

At the same time, we would like to take this opportunity to encourage anyone who experiences or witnesses sexism, harassment or other forms of unacceptable behaviour to act, and to seek support.

Because since 2018, AU has been working to provide an improved support system for employees or students who are sexually harassed.

• Students can contact their student guidance office, the Student Council Legal Service, the student chaplains or the AU Helpline, which handles all calls confidentially. These are all places where students can get support and counselling, as well as advice on how to file a formal complaint if they decide to do so. Find out more about the options here.
• Employees should turn to their immediate supervisor for support. If this is not possible or desirable for any reason, there are a number of other sources of internal and external support employees can turn to instead. Find out more here.

We have designed manuals and courses to instruct managers in how to handle incidents of harassment. And we have also stressed that managers have a responsibility to intervene when employees report such incidents – and that situations involving hierarchical power relationships are particularly sensitive.

The Arhus University Board has just adopted an equality action plan for the years to come. The plan’s initiatives will attempt to address and correct the structural inequalities in our system in various different ways. But if we are to succeed in this, a fundamental condition is that we treat each other with respect and consideration. This is why the action plan also includes more long-term work to influence the workplace culture at AU. Combatting sexism will be an important aspect of this work.

We encourage everyone to listen to the protest of the courageous women who have come forward – and just as importantly, to the silent protest of those who don’t feel they can come forward.

Aarhus University has to be a positive, supportive place to work and study with a healthy workplace culture – which does not accept harassment of any kind. And this goes for everyone, regardless of gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation. It’s a question of basic decency and respect for one another.