BULLYING,HARASSMENT &DISCRIMINATION

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Contents

Bullying, Harassment and Discrimination

What to do if you think you are being bullied

How to deal with unwanted behaviour

What if the matter still isn’t resolved?

Important links

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The information in this guide only provides general guidance on academic support and University policy. The leaflet should not be regarded or relied upon as a complete or authoritative statement of University policy or procedures. The University of Manchester Students’ Union advice service will not accept any liability for any claims or inconvenience as a result of the use of information in this guide.

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Bullying, Harassment and DiscriminationIf you feel that you are being bullied, discriminated against or harassed in any way then please don’t hesitate to come and speak to an Advisor at the Students’ Union advice service. We can help you follow this procedure and/or we can offer you a confidential space to talk about your situation with someone who will not make any judgements or take any action that you are not completely happy with.

The University has a policy on Bullying, Discrimination and Harassment which all registered students are able to use if they feel that they are experiencing bullying, harassment or discrimination by any other individual within the University including students or staff. The University will not tolerate bullying, harassment or discrimination and will take action to protect its students and staff from any such offense.

If a student feels that bullying, discrimination and/or harassment has occurred on a placement involving placement staff or their clients, they need to follow the relevant procedures and policies of that host institution or organisation. Please get in touch with an Advisor at the Students’ Union for more information on this.

Harassment

Harassment is unwanted conduct which may create the effect (intentionally or unintentionally) of violating a person’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment which interferes with an individual’s learning, working or social environment or induces stress, anxiety or sickness on the part of the harassed person.

Discrimination

Discrimination takes place when an individual or a group of people is treated less favourably than others because of their race, gender, gender reassignment, marital status, status as a civil partner, disability, age, religion or belief, sexual orientation or other factors unrelated to their ability or potential.

Bullying

Bullying can be defined as repeated or persistent actions, criticism or personal abuse, either in public or private, which (intentionally or unintentionally) humiliates, denigrates, undermines, intimidates or injures the recipient. It should, in particular, be borne in mind that much bullying occurs in the context of a power imbalance between victims and alleged perpetrators.

Bullying, Harassment and Discrimination {cont}Bullying and harassment could include:

• Threats,written,verbal(byfaceortelephone) or electronic.

• Behaviourthatcausesdistresstoa victim e.g. silent phone calls, the giving of unwanted or inappropriate gifts.

• Verbaland/orwrittenabuse,innuendoes or insults.

• Damagingavictim’sproperty.

• Displayofoffensivematerial(posters,signs,graffiti,flagsetc).

• Usingoffensivelanguageorobscene gestures.

• Useofphysicalviolence.

• Invasionofpersonalspace,recognising that the definition ofpersonalspacecandifferwithdifferentcultures.

• Unwarrantedorinvalidcriticism.

• Settingunrealisticorunfairgoals, which the bully knows are unreasonableand/orunachievable.

• Constantundervaluingoftherecipient’s contribution.

• Belittling,demeaning,humiliatingor patronising the recipient in front of others.

• Blamingtherecipientforanother’smistake.

• Constantlyremindingtherecipientof any failures in the past.

• Thebullynottalkingtotherecipient; the only communication being in writing.

• Treatingsomeonedifferentlyfromothers for no reason.

• Excessivesupervision;makingtherecipient feel undervalued and inadequate.

In considering what may or may not be bullying, discrimination and/or harassment the University uses the test of ‘reasonableness’: would a reasonable person in possession of the same information feel that the alleged conduct or behaviour constituted harassment?

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What to do if you think you are being bullied? If you feel that you, or someone you know, is being bullied, discriminated against or harassed then it’s important to take action quickly. You can contact the Students’ Union advice service using the contact details at the back of this booklet and an Advisor can talk your situation through with you and discuss some of the options available. Any discussion will be confidential and you won’t be placed under any pressure to take any action that you’re not comfortable with.

If possible, it is wise to keep any evidence of the incident/s occurring and this can be kept in the form of a journal, within this you should note;

• Date/s

• Time/s

• Descriptionoftheincident/s

• Howtheincident/smadeyoufeel

• Namesofanywitnesses

• Yourresponsetotheincident/s

• Youractionsaftertheincident/s

You should also, if possible, keep copies of any emails, social networking messages/postings, screen shots of Facebook chat or tweets, voicemails, text messages and/or video or voice recordings of any conversations.

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There are a number of options that are available to students with regards to dealing with unwanted behaviour and these are detailed in full below;

Informal Procedure

You may wish to communicate with the respondent directly to help them understand how their behaviour is making you feel, this could be in person or via letter. Sometimes, this is enough to stop an individual as they may not realise the hurt that they are causing. This is often very difficult to do, but you may wish to utilise the help and support of an Advisor to accompany you and/or help to write your letter.

If you do not feel able to approach the individual personally you may want your tutor to do it on your behalf. If the respondent is your tutor; a Students’ Union Advisor, Academic Advisor, or Harassment Advisor can converse with the tutor for you. If you have decided to follow this option and have not met with the individual in person, the University understands that this is not an acceptance of the behaviour and will not affect any future complaint.

Mediation

Mediation can be offered as an alternative to the informal stage or can be used as

the next step if you have tried and not been successful at the initial stage. It can also be recommended later on in the process as an alternative to formal procedures. Mediation is not a compulsory measure but is highly recommended as it can speed up procedures.

Mediation is an informal process that can help both parties reach an agreed solution and will be attended by you; the complainant, the respondent and a trained mediator. Mediation is a confidential process where no official decisions are made but options for both parties can be explored and result in a mutually beneficial agreement. If you are unsure about attending the mediation alone, an Advisor will be happy to accompany you. To begin mediation procedures, the complainant must contact a Harassment Advisor who will, in turn, contact the student/staff member involved through the relevant channels.

*Mediation can only occur if both parties consent to the process and both must agree on the mediator assigned.

The respondent may also request support and representation from the advice service, and an Advisor independent of the case will be happy to help explain any procedures and information and support you throughout all stages.

How to deal with unwanted behaviour

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FormalComplaintsandInvestigation

If, having tried the informal and/or mediation stages, you are not satisfied or could not reach an agreement with mediation; you may decide to initiate the formal procedure. This involves a written formal complaint to be submitted to the Faculty Officer responsible for student matters. The Faculty Officer or their nominee will identify who will investigate the complaint.

There will be a minimum of two Investigating Officers (IOs) involved in the formal aspect of the complaint, all of which will be completely independent of the complainant and respondent. Investigations are to be conducted in confidence and as quickly as possible and will normally begin within 10 working days of the complaint being received. You will be asked to attend a meeting with the IOs where they will explain the upcoming procedures in full and all allegations and details of the complaint will be discussed.

The IOs may at this stage decide that there is no substance to the complaint and end the procedure at that point. If the student is dissatisfied with this result, they may seek a Review with the Head of Student Support and Services within 10

working days of formal notification.

If the IOs decide to progress the complaint at this stage, an interview with the respondent will take place, any witnesses will also be invited to interview and all involved must sign comprehensive notes of the meetings as a true and accurate reflection, any points that any of the interviewees disagree with must be commented on and signed.

How to deal with unwanted behaviour {cont}

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How to deal with unwanted behaviour {cont}Upon compiling all evidence of the complaint with all involved, the IOs will inform both parties of an outcome, normally within 20 working days of the formal complaint being received. If the misconduct is proven, the matter will be referred to the appropriate disciplinary procedures.

If, once the final outcome has been conveyed, either party does not believe that the investigation was conducted fairly or properly in accordance with the procedures (see link at the end of this chapter) they may request a review by writing to the Director of Teaching and Learning who should inform you of their decision within 20 working days. Pease contact a member of the advice service if you would like help in reviewing the draft letter you have written before submission.

The Director of Teaching and Learning may need further information from those concerned as he/she deems necessary in order to decide on an appropriate course of action, which may include:

• specificactiontoresolvethematter

• referralforanewinvestigation

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What if the matter is still not resolved?Once all stages of complaint have been exhausted, the student should be in receipt of a ‘CompletionofProcedures’ letter. If you do not automatically receive this, we suggest that you chase it up with your School/Faculty. This deems the University to have exhausted all procedures within the University and allows the student to take up the complaint with the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA). Please see OIA website for detailed information.

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DignityatWorkandStudyPolicyhttp://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=2753

DignityatWorkandStudyProcedurehttp://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=2755

HarassmentAdvisorContactshttp://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=2789

MediationAdviceLeaflethttp://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=11724

Important links