Sexual Harassement Awareness Day

Sexual harassment and sexism are social problems that exist even within the walls of Swiss universities. Indeed, the precarious employment conditions of many researchers, the heavy workloads, hierarchical structures and lack of diversity in certain disciplines and departments are just four of the many risk factors for inappropriate behaviour. 

The University of Lucerne is acting as the "leading house" for the project "P-7: Diversity, inclusion and equal opportunities in higher education development" by swissuniversities, and collaborating with the diversity officers of Swiss universities and institutes of higher education to develop a cross-media prevention and awareness campaign for the first Sexual Harassment Awareness Day on 23 March 2023. All Swiss universities and organisations associated with these universities are invited to participate. On this date, events and activities on this topic will be held both online and in person at universities and institutes of higher education throughout Switzerland. These events will be supported by an information campaign on social media, which will also be implemented within participating institutes.

Preparatory and Training Meeting 2022

The kick off meeting took place at the KKL Lucerne on 14 June 2022. The project team presented the individual parts of the campaign and explained the wide range of opportunities to get involved. The audience was comprised of Swiss university staff active in the field of equal opportunities, persons responsible for implementing sexual harassment prevention methods and/or who will be organising the participation of their institutions on Sexual Harassment Awareness Day.

Participants were able begin planning activities in small break-out sessions and also attended several thought-provoking talks:

• Prof. Regina Aebi-Müller, University of Lucerne: "Specific regulations on sexual harassment at universities – risks and opportunities"
• Prof. Brigitte Tag, Sina Staudinger, MLaw, University of Zurich: "Focus on equal opportunities employees – how do I protect myself? And what can I do if I am personally vilified?"
• Dr Klea Faniko, University of Geneva: "Why is action needed? Sexism at Swiss universities"
• Natalie Lerch-Pieper, Paul Scherrer Institute: "Creating a respectful and inclusive workplace environment through training"
• Dr Astrid Rimbach, co-president: "The health-promoting universities network in Switzerland"

How can we take part in the campaign?

Interested representatives from Swiss universities as well as organisations and other parties involved in the Swiss higher education landscape are invited to contact the project manager, Simona Materni, at any time to request access to the campaign documents. These contain advice on preparing events and activities along with some valuable information on internal communication.

Interested individuals and groups with a direct connection to a specific Swiss university are advised to contact their university's Gender and Diversity Office to find out what is being planned and see how they can get involved in the Sexual Harassment Awareness Day on 23 March 2023 at their local university.

Contact details:

Simona Materni, simona.materni unilu ch

Pia Ammann, pia.ammann unilu ch