Prevention

PREVENTING OR RESPONDING EFFECTIVELY TO INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR IS FUNDAMENTAL TO ENSURING A SAFE ENVIRONMENT ON CAMPUS.

ACTIVITY REPORT OF THE SOCIAL SAFETY COORDINATOR - OMBUDSPERSON

The Activity Report of the Social Safety Coordinator at the BUTThe report is prepared for the period 2022-03/2024.

WHAT DOES SOCIAL SAFETY ADDRESS?

Violations of personal dignity (discrimination, aggression, bullying, intimidation, abuse of position, sexual harassment and other forms of harassment).

WHAT DOES SOCIAL SAFETY NOT ADDRESS?

  • Student vs. BUT situation (conflict with rules and system) = RESOLVE through Disciplinary Committee - Disciplinary Code
  • Employee vs. BUT situation (conflict with rules and system) = Employment Law, Grievance Handling (per Directive 3/2023), Whistleblower Protection (per Directive 1/2023), Trade Union 
  • Research Ethics and Plagiarism = BUT Ethics Committee - BUT Code of Conduct

LEGISLATIVE SUPPORT?

In Czech legislation, discrimination is prohibited in the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms. Furthermore, in Act No. 198/2009 Coll. commonly known as the "Anti-discrimination Act" or in the Criminal Code.

WHAT IS AND WHAT IS NOT A CRIME/WHAT IS AN OFFENCE?

Only those unlawful acts that are designated as criminal by law may be designated as a criminal offence. They cannot be so defined by the police, a judge or anyone else. The Criminal Law then enumerates the various offences and sets out the specific characteristics they must meet.

It is also necessary to distinguish offences from criminal offences, which may in some cases be similar in nature but are less socially dangerous.

PREVENCE

  • Avoid communicating one's prejudices against a person or group based on (gender, colour, nationality...)
  • Minimize after school activities with students.
  • Do not communicate outside of official mail/platforms.
  • Minimize expressions of a personal nature on social media, in messages, chats, etc.
  • Do not post photos or videos.

DISCRIMINATION

Direct discrimination means that one person is treated less favourably than another in a comparable situation because of, for example, race, ethnic origin, nationality, religion, gender, disability, age or sexual orientation. This could be, for example, the pay gap between men and women, or differences in culture and religion.

Indirect discrimination is behaviour that treats someone less favourably on the basis of a criterion that is apparently neutral.

Sexual harassment - Harassment can take many different forms, from verbal to written language, gestures or behavior, but must be sufficiently severe to create an intimidating, humiliating or offensive atmosphere. There is no need to be afraid to hold the door or help a woman (or man) into a coat, as some people fear under the influence of media scandals. Sexual coercion can be specific, where some advantage is directly linked to some form of sexual cooperation.

BULLYING

Bullying can be perpetrated by colleagues (individual or group) through a repeated and deliberate process of excluding a person from the team, ridiculing and humiliating them.

In professional terminology, such behaviour is referred to as mobbing (not replying to greetings, contemptuous looks, regular gossiping, criticism and denigration by superiors/colleagues).

If such behaviour is perpetrated by the boss of the person concerned, it is referred to as bossing (e.g. excessive checking of performance of duties or attendance, unjustified threats of dismissal, assignment of overly complex tasks (for which the subordinate is not qualified or is unqualified), preventing access to information, e.g. from superiors, which leads to uninformation, etc.).

Bullying is characterised by premeditation; regular repetition; disproportionate force; obvious aggressiveness; the victim experiences unpleasant so-called fun.

Examples of bullying:

Physical: These include attacks such as punching, kicking, groping, excessive physical proximity, holding, pushing, shoving, throwing objects, stealing.

Verbal: It can be done by addressing the person directly (usually insults, humiliation, intimidation or threats), but also, for example, via the internet (social networks). Slander, gossip and rumour-mongering are also considered bullying.

Covert: Various ways of nonverbally implying that a person is undesirable or inferior. This can take the form of hostile stares, exclusion from a group, etc.

STALKING is a type of inappropriate behaviour that manifests itself in the perpetrator (the English term stalker) targeting a person (his/her victim) who does not care about his/her interest and constantly and for a long time harasses and annoys him/her (unsolicited text messages, emails, social networks, phone calls, unwanted attention), violating his/her personal freedom. He/she may even threaten her/him and create a feeling of fear.

Stalking has been a crime in the Czech Republic since 2010 and is qualified under Section 354 as dangerous persecution. If the victim is in danger, he or she can also apply for short-term police protection

Trestní řád – Code of Criminal Procedure (141/1961 Sb.)
Trestní zákoník – Criminal Code (40/2009 Sb.)
Manifestations of stalking

  • demonstration of power and force (direct or indirect threats), physically following the victim on the way to work, shopping, car chasing, waiting for the victim in front of the house,
  • the stalker may also threaten to physically attack the victim or the victim's loved ones,
  • making threats if the stalker's previous attempts fail,
  • the stalker impersonates the victim, identifies himself as the victim and pretends that the victim is taking revenge on him, he may also file a criminal complaint against the victim,
  • attempts to damage the victim's reputation by spreading false information in the vicinity. It may not be easy to recognise a stalker and often it is not even possible to do so; he may appear to be a perfectly normal person socially, about whom even his closest surroundings may not know that he is, for example, harassing another person.

The stalker may not be easily identifiable and may appear to be a perfectly normal person socially, who even those closest to him may not know that he is, (for example, harassing another person).

The personal boundaries of each person (perpetrator and victim) in such a situation can be very different, so that what is a completely innocent joke for one person can be a long term stress for another.

The victim of bullying is at a disadvantage and may find it difficult to defend themselves. However, it is difficult to prove that it was not a prank and that it was really serious bullying.

SOURCES

  1. Dostupný advokát (Accessible Advocate) – “Dostupný advokát” is a team of experienced attorneys and other legal specialists, who take advantage of the ease of modern communication to provide continuing legal counsel.
  2. Laws for People
  3. Stopper - www.stopper.cz (Only in Czech)
  4. Mobbing free institute - info@sikanavpraci.cz (You may write in English)

Responsibility: Ing. Bohdana Šlégrová