Have you experienced or witnessed discrimination, bullying or sexual harassment at the university? Do you have any questions concerning the topic? If so, please contact the us at the Diversity, Equality & Inclusion Office. Our team of expert provides confidential advice on preventing discrimination, fostering inclusion and how to deal with specific incidents. Please scroll down for all the other contact points.
Time: 12.15-13.15 (online event), 13.15-14.15 (subsequent discussion)
Location: SQUARE, Wintergarten (stream) and online
Speaker: Dr Bontu Lucie Guschke
Moderation: Raphaela Hettlage, ETHZ (online event) & Dr. Anna-Katrin Heydenreich (subsequent discussion)
Commentator: Prof. Dr. Christa Binswanger
Organiser: SHAD Network (Online-Event) & DE&I (subsequent discussion)
Public, free of charge, please sign up here for the Lunch-Event at the SQUARE, so that we can provide enough sandwiches.
Language: The online event will be conducted in English, with the subsequent discussion in both German and English.
Screening: Despite many commitments to more diversity and inclusion, despite #MeToo and anti-sexism campaigns - sexism and sexual harassment are still a reality at universities and colleges and everyday life for many staff and students. The lecture shows how sexist discrimination is continuously reproduced in the university context and why incidents are still so often ignored, insufficiently discussed and ignored. It will also shed light on how sexism and sexual harassment can be dealt with more effectively from an intersectional perspective.
Discussion: What do the points raised by Dr. Bontu Guschke in her lecture mean for us at the University of St. Gallen? What forms of sexist discrimination can we identify within our own institution? How can we make it easier to talk about incidents of sexual harassment and support those affected as well as their surroundings in speaking up? What can we do as an institution to address sexist discrimination and sexual harassment in order to reduce such incidents and foster a respectful campus culture? Let’s discuss these questions together with our expert Prof. Dr. Christa Binswanger and the Diversity, Equality & Inclusion team. Prof. Binswanger will provide a commentary on the online lecture to kick off the discussion.
Dr Bontu Lucie Guschke (she/her) works as a researcher, facilitator and speaker on diversity and anti-discrimination. Her research focusses on queer and anti-racist feminist theory. She holds a PhD from Copenhagen Business School on the reproduction of sexism and racism in universities. As a consultant, facilitator and speaker, she works with universities and organisations to develop diversity-sensitive and low-discrimination work environments. Her academic work has been published in international journals and she is editor of Femina Politica and Women, Gender and Research.
<meta charset="UTF-8" />Prof. Dr. Christa Binswanger is a professor and permanent lecturer and Head of the “Gender & Diversity” department at the SHSS. She is also Vice President of the Equal Opportunities Commission at the University of St. Gallen (HSG).
In case you cannot attend at the SQUARE, can find the Zoom link here: https://universities-against-harassment.ch/programm
Location: SQUARE, Wintergarten
<meta charset="UTF-8" />In this session we will explore modern manifestations of sexual harassment and it's causes (e.g., gender norms, "toxic" cultures, bystander inaction), putting attention on the role of bystanders in prevent persistent sexual harassment on campus and at work. We will do an interactive exercise on how to recognize sexually harassing acts and intervene for healthier study and work environments for all.
Speakers: Prof Dr Jamie Gloor & Eugenia Bajet Mestre
Organisers: WASH
Location: collektiv St. Gallen, Marktplatz 22, 9000 St. Gallen
***This event will be held in German***
Where can I turn if I have experienced sexualised violence? Who can support me if I am unsure whether my boundaries have been crossed? And how can I help if someone close to me is affected?
The experts Agota Lavoyer and Sim Eggler provide answers to these questions and present their guide "<meta charset="UTF-8" />Ermutigt. Unterstützung für Betroffene von sexualisierter Gewalt an Hochschulen" (‘Encouraged. Support for victims of sexualised violence').
In the subsequent talk ‘Sexualised violence in the university context’, the authors will discuss challenges, options for action and ways to achieve a harassment-free university environment with Madlynn Dumitrasku, member of WASH - Work Against Sexual Harassment, a student initiative at the University of St. Gallen, and Kathrin Hilber, mediator and ombudsperson.
Moderation: Rahel Fenini, Equal Opportunities Officer of the Canton of St. Gallen
Opening: 18.00 hrs
Free admission, followed by aperitif
Please register for the event using the form on the cantonal website.
Organisers: Cantonal Gender Equality Promotion, University of Teacher Education St. Gallen & University of St. Gallen
Diversity, Equality & Inclusion
Psychological Counselling Services
Ombuds Office (external and independent advice)
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Crisis Hotline +41 58 178 54 44 (Crisis Intervention)
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The Council of Europe defines hate speech as “all types of expression that incite, promote, spread or justify violence, hatred or discrimination against a person or group of persons, or that denigrates them, by reason of their real or attributed personal characteristics or status such as ‘race’(*), colour, language, religion, nationality, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.” (CoE, 2022)
(*) Since all human beings belong to the same species, the Committee of Ministers rejects, as does the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), theories based on the existence of different “races”. However, in this document, the term “race” is used in order to ensure that those persons who are generally and erroneously perceived as “belonging to another race” are not excluded from the protection provided for by the legislation and the implementation of policies to prevent and combat hate speech.
Hate Crime (OSCE)
Combating Hate Speech (Council of Europe)
#NetzCourage (German)
Stop Hate Speech (German/French)
report online racism (Reporting Platform for Online Racist Hate Speech, a pilot project of the Federal Commission against Racism)
Public Discourse Foundation (German/French)
HateAid (Non-profit organisation for human rights on the net, Berlin)
Helpdesk gegen Hate Speech (German, project by No-Hate-Speech Movement and Neue deutschen Medienmacher*innen)
SCICOMMsupport (German; Support of scientists and science communicators in case of attacks in science communication in the DACH area)
Specialist Diversity, Equality & Inclusion
