Sexual Harassment Awareness Day 2024
Institutional Communication Service
18 April 2024
The national campaign, which is being promoted by swissuniversities in collaboration with multiple universities, pedagogical universities, universities of applied sciences, research institutes, and organisations close to universities throughout Switzerland, aims to prevent sexual harassment and sexism in places of study or work. The campaign invites people to reflect on their behaviour, respect the boundaries of others, and take responsibility for themselves and others to counter this issue in a preventive manner.
Whether through initiatives at individual universities and/or schools in higher education, Zoom lectures on specific issues or educational offerings, the prevention programme offers valuable starting points that will help create greater awareness and knowledge on the topic.
USI is actively participating in the national campaign with an awareness booth that will be set up between 10 am and 3 pm on Thursday, 25 April, at the West Campus outdoor space under the cafeteria. "Fortune Cookies" with awareness messages will be offered. Information booths are planned at the East Campus and the Academy of Architecture on the Mendrisio Campus. The entire USI community is invited to participate.
During the day, the "USI without Stereotypes" exhibition will be presented. This exhibit, created by the USI Equal Opportunities Service and the USI Institutional Communication Service, explores and draws attention to the common idioms and clichés that tend to create a false perception of our abilities, which in turn can negatively impact our personal and professional choices.
The "Equality box", as always, will be available at the South entrance of the West Campus Lugano (Office 202), at the secretariat of the Faculty of Informatics on the East Campus and on the Mendrisio Campus. This special mailbox, invites people from the USI community to collect any requests for support, reports and to leave thoughts and suggestions on issues of gender, equal opportunity and diversity. As a reminder, the "Equality box" is not a dedicated tool for collecting reports of particularly sensitive cases, which should instead be sent to the Equal Opportunity Service, [email protected].
To follow up on the year's theme with a focus on training, the day's programme will continue at 5:30 pm in USI Auditorium with the encounter "Dialogues of Respect in Relationships Awareness and Management of Inappropriate Behavior." Organised by the USI Equal Opportunities Service and the SUPSI Gender and Diversity Service, in collaboration with the Dimitri Academy.
The complete programme is available here.
Please see the following link for registration:
https://usi.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_a3gn9hWizJheXjg
Learn more about the campaign by contacting the Equal Opportunity Service or by visiting the following pages:
In addition to the "Equality box," USI offers its academic community a number of resources they can draw on, inside and outside USI, to seek professional and specialised support:
- IntegriSafe: Kit di prevenzione delle molestie sessuali e sessiste sul posto di lavoro
- USI In ascolto
- USI psychological counseling
- University Mediator
- Laboratory of Occupational Psychopathology of the Cantonal Sociopsychiatric Organisation (OSC) has been mandated to welcome and support those suffering from symptoms (physical or emotional) related to the socio-professional situation.
Programme
- 10:00 AM - 3:30 PM Awareness stands at the USI Lugano West Campus, outdoor area under the canteen. Information stands will also be available at the East Campus and at the Academy of Architecture on the Mendrisio Campus, as well as at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB), Bellinzona.
- Exhibition of the "USI without Stereotypes" show, curated by the Equal Opportunities Service and the Institutional Communication Service, USI Lugano West Campus, Red Building. The exhibition can be visited from Thursday, 25 April to Friday, 17 May 2023, during the buildings' opening hours.
- "Dialogues of Respect in Relationships Awareness and Management of Inappropriate Behavior", 5:30 PM at the USI Aula magna, Lugano. Event organised by the USI Equal Opportunities Service and the SUPSI Gender and Diversity Service, in collaboration with the Dimitri Academy. Find here the link to the full programme and the registration form.
