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Sexual and gender-based violence

Charles University places great emphasis on the prevention of negative phenomena and a safe environment for everyone. It does not accept any form of sexual and gender-based harassment and violence (often simply referred to as sexual harassment) and expects all individuals from the university community, its visitors, and contractual partners to treat each other with respect and consideration.


Charles University strives for a working, educational, and social environment in which the rights and dignity of all members of the university community are respected


The objectives of Charles University in this area are:


  • To promote a safe environment in which people are treated fairly and with respect;

  • To declare that harassment is unacceptable and that everyone who is a part of the university will contribute to the creation of an environment without any form of harassment;

  • To provide support to students and employees who believe they are a victim of harassment;

  • To provide a clearly defined mechanism for resolving any complaints.


Every employee and student has the right to expect professional conduct from others and are also responsible themselves for their conduct towards others. Thus, everyone has personal responsibility for upholding the following principles and guidelines:


  • To treat others with respect,

  • To not tolerate any form of harassment, and if witness to this, to express that the unacceptable behaviour will not be tolerated,

  • To support anyone who feels they have been a victim of harassment, including offering outside assistance and psychological support for filing formal complaints if the need arises.


What is sexual and gender based violence?

In general, such behaviour can be defined as inappropriate and unwelcome behaviour with a sexual undertone, the essence of which is (similar to other types of harassment) an effort to gain, increase, or confirm one’s superiority over another person.


Gender-based violence includes all acts of physical, sexual, psychological, economic, or other forms of violence that target women because they happen to be women or men because they happen to be men or acts of violence that disproportionately affect women or men.


Sexual violence is an attempt to gain, increase, or confirm one’s superiority over another person using sexuality as a tool of power. This includes, for example, unwelcome sexual attention or sexual blackmail and coercion.

In other words, this is inappropriate and unsolicited behaviour with sexual undertones, whether verbal, non-verbal, or physical. On a university campus, this can occur between students, between teachers, teachers towards students or students towards teachers, and among members of staff.


This may involve the following in particular:

- Sexual advances,

- Offering benefits for intimate contact or, on the contrary, threatening someone if they refuse (e.g. credits, exams or good grades, promotions, financial rewards, or other benefits),

- Intimate touching,

- Sharing intimate photos,

- Various forms of psychological pressure, such as different treatment based on gender,

- Materials depicting persons as sexual objects,

- Exhibiting and distributing pornographic materials,

- Inappropriate comments relating to a person’s body and appearance,

- Suggestive jokes,

- Humiliating or embarrassing remarks,

- Attention in the form of harassing e-mails,

- Expressing an offensive, hostile, and degrading stance towards a certain gender,

- Cursing, mocking, and gestures with sexual undertones,

- Bullying and threatening and hostile behaviour,

- Offensive, unwanted, and unrequited verbal and non-verbal behaviour,

- Physical assault.


All of these circumstances can create an unpleasant academic or work environment and atmosphere between students and teachers or employees and superiors, or between students or employees. They can take place during class and outside class during consultations, internships, or various excursions outside the school premises. In the case of employees, this can happen during working hours, at the workplace, but also in other circumstances.


For more information, please contact Centrum Carolina



Last change: December 12, 2022 12:23 
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