Dealing with harassment and assault on campus

Dear University Members,
Dear colleagues, dear students,

A university thrives on freedom, openness, dialog, appreciation and consideration. However, just as outside the university, harassment and assaults can unfortunately also occur in everyday university life and on a freely accessible campus or in freely accessible university buildings that are directed against university members, primarily against women and female students. Only recently there was such an incident in a toilet area in one of the university buildings.

On this occasion, we would like to ask you (again) to be vigilant in order to protect yourself and others:

1. If you yourself are affected by or observe harassment or assault, we ask you to immediately call the police on 110 in threatening situations. In addition, you can also contact the university facility management and, from 3 p.m. onwards, the university security service on 04131.677-1050.
2. If you observe people being harassed or attacked, show civil courage and come to help.
3. If you are affected by harassment or assault, please always inform the Equal Opportunities Office so that they can check whether any specific measures or changes to the university's security concept need to be taken.
4. Even if you are unsure how to assess a situation you have experienced, we would like to encourage you to contact the Equal Opportunities Office for advice. The colleagues in the Equal Opportunities Office will treat all inquiries as strictly confidential and will only take further steps with your express consent.

We would like to thank you for your cooperation, your prudence and all joint efforts that contribute to living a culture of respect and consideration on campus and beyond.

With kind regards,

Christian Brei
Executive Vice President

Kathrin van Riesen
Equal Opportunities Officer