Your first step should be to take your own feelings seriously and work through what you have experienced. This can take the form of writing down what you have been through or talking to someone you trust. You can also talk to us or another organization that offers advice and counseling. Reflecting on the incident together makes it easier to find a name for what happened and develop strategies to prevent something similar from occurring again. If you would like to press ahead and make an official complaint, or in case you may wish to do so in the future, then it is also a good idea to keep a written record and note down any incidents that occur with the location, date, and names of any bystanders.

You can get in contact with the Contact Person in Cases of Sexual Harassment, Discrimination, and Violence or reach out to another internal or external organization that offers advice and counseling. You also have the option of speaking to your supervisor or HR representative and seeking a solution together. However, the latter will be obliged to take action. Depending on the situation, you can also arrange a one-to-one conversation with the person involved in the incident, outline how it made you feel uncomfortable, and request that they refrain from such behavior in the future. You may also wish to ask a colleague that you trust to come with you if you decide to go down this route.

If you find yourself in this situation you should try to speak to the person affected and ask them how they felt about the encounter. Be sure to do so with the utmost tact and sensitivity. Offer them your support in seeking out the relevant counseling centers. Ask them if there is any other way you can help them (within reason) or prevent other incidents from happening. It may also prove useful to speak with the person who has acted inappropriately. Depending on the situation, it may be that they were unaware that their actions were humiliating or harmful. That being said, you should never act in opposition to the express wishes of the person who has been assaulted or discriminated against. Always respect their decisions and autonomy (except in situations in which they are in immediate danger). 

You will be first given the opportunity to speak openly about what you have been through and reflect on those experiences. Your counselor will then support you in developing strategies to prevent an incident of this nature from happening again. Together, you can work on a solution or approach that best suits your needs – whether that’s a conversation with the wrongdoer, pressing ahead with an official complaint, or pursuing other legal remedies. The internal and external organizations that offer advice and counseling listed here – including the Chief Gender Equality Officer of Freie Universität Berlin – will only act in accordance with your wishes and take your interests and needs as a baseline. 

The Contact Person in Cases of Sexual Harassment, Discrimination, and Violence welcomes anyone who needs advice, irrespective of their gender or sexual orientation. They will take your concerns seriously. There are also specialized counseling points within and outside of Freie Universität Berlin for women, men, transgender people, and people with different sexual orientations.

You are more than welcome to get in touch with the Contact Person in Cases of Sexual Harassment, Discrimination, and Violence or another internal or external organization that offers advice and counseling if you need support in grappling with this complex issue. Employees with responsibility for other staff may find it especially useful to undergo further training in how to handle cases of sexualized harassment, discrimination, and violence.

If you are unsure as to whether your own behavior constitutes a violation of boundaries, then your first step should be to reflect on your experiences by means of a written record, for example. Depending on the situation, you may want to have a one-on-one conversation with the person involved. However, you need to make sure that the other person’s needs take center stage and that what has happened before does not happen again. We recommend that they bring someone they trust or a Gender Equality Officer to the meeting. It is essential that you establish transparent rules for the meeting together. You can also receive feedback and counseling from a support service at any time. Conversations with the support services are strictly confidential.

All support services will handle your conversations with the utmost confidentiality and only take action in accordance with your wishes. Our counselors are obliged to maintain confidentiality. However, if you decide to notify your supervisor about an incident, then this will be considered an official complaint. Your supervisor will be obliged to take appropriate measures to investigate the incident if there is any suspicion of misconduct and they may also have to contact other people to assist in this process. At the same time, they have to ensure that you are not put at any disadvantage due to this procedure.

If you would like to have a professional assess your situation you should get in touch with the Contact Person in Cases of Sexual Harassment, Discrimination, and Violence or another counseling service like the Anti-Stalking Projekt. They will be able to provide you with assistance. Stalking is a punishable offense in Germany. You can call the police at 110 if you feel that your personal safety is at risk.

There are many courses of action you can take against a wrongdoer, depending on the specific incident. First of all, you have the right to say “No” and refuse to give consent. You have the right to establish clear boundaries and defend yourself against violations of said boundaries. Furthermore, you can take action in line with the federal, state, and university provisions that have been put in place to tackle sexualized harassment, discrimination, and violence. You may be able to initiate criminal proceedings against the wrongdoer, depending on the specific incident. You can find an overview of the laws and guidelines that include regulations on the issue of sexualized harassment, discrimination, and violence here. The Contact Person in Cases of Sexual Harassment, Discrimination, and Violence, a Gender Equality Officer, or another support service can offer you advice and counsel tailored to your specific situation.

At Freie Universität Berlin you have the opportunity to seek counsel and support from highly trained professionals who are also familiar with the university’s structures. Freie Universität follows up on every incident that is reported. The university has taken further steps in this direction by setting up this website, establishing the Working Group on Sexual Harassment, Discrimination, and Violence, and enacting the guidelines against sexualized harassment, discrimination, and violence in 2015. Protecting those who have been subject to such behaviors, and initiating preventative measures by openly addressing the issue and defining clear guidelines are key to tackling sexualized harassment, discrimination, and violence, not to mention developing a culture of respect at Freie Universität.