If you become harassed or discriminated in your education or in student life you can always turn to the student union to get help, advice and support. The law against discrimination protects you as a student and says that the university is obliged to act when discrimination and harassment occur. The university is also supposed to work preventatively with these issues, which the Student Union tries to affect the university in doing.

The law protects against discrimination and harassment concerning gender, sexual orientation, age, gender identity and gender expression, disabilities, religion and ethnicity, but no matter if you think that what you have been exposed to applies to any of these discrimination grounds or not, you are of course welcome to get in contact with the Student Union, who most often has the possibility to help. All students have the right to be treated in a good way.

If you have been harassed or discriminated against in any way, you have the right to speak up against the event. The law doesn’t look different upon it no matter if you were discriminated or harassed by a teacher or another student. It protects you on formal occasions such as examinations, grading or changing of supervisor. It is enough if you tell someone who works at the university once to make the university start an investigation on what happened. It is your experience on what happened that counts.

Harassment exists in different ways: an unwelcome touch or look, comments, picture, prejudices etc. Harassment can also build up from many “smaller” incidents that together creates an offensive atmosphere.

You don’t have to make a formal report for the university to be obliged to start an investigation. It is enough if you tell someone who is working in your department.  You are always supported by the Student Union when you report discrimination or harassment. The university can’t treat you badly because of your report, meaning that your grades, for example, won’t suffer because of it. 

The university shall:

·         take you seriously

·         make sure harassments doesn’t occur

·         make sure discrimination doesn’t occur

     ·         find out what happened in every individual case 

To find out where you can turn to if something happens or you have questions please contact the Equity Officer of the Student Union.