Sexualized discrimination

For a respectful and non-discriminatory culture at the TU Darmstadt campus

TU Darmstadt does not tolerate any form of sexualized violence and discrimination. Those affected and those seeking advice are encouraged to seek counselling in a low-threshold and confidential manner. All students, employees and guests of TU Darmstadt are called upon to contribute to a culture of equal opportunities without discrimination by adopting an active attitude in their everyday learning and working lives.

Have you experienced or observed sexualized discrimination?

Sexualised discrimination is perceived differently by the people affected. Your own feeling that something is wrong is a reliable guide.

All members of TU Darmstadt receive confidential counselling at . You can contact the confidential advice centres BUBB (Counselling services for employees of TUDa) and AD-S (Anti-Discrimination office of TUDa).

What is sexualized discrimination?

Sexual discrimination begins where known boundaries are overstepped! It includes any form of sexualized behavior inherent in situations or actions that are considered disrespectful and humiliating by the person concerned and are not welcome. Sexualized discrimination often takes place in relationships of hierarchy and dependency. It can be expressed in many different forms: verbal, non-verbal, physical, virtual:

  • Obscene jokes, sexist forms of address and advances, wolf-whistling
  • Sexist remarks about appearance, behavior or private life
  • Invasive emails, texts, chats, comments
  • Posting and disseminating sexist media (e.g., calendars, advertising, posters, flyers…)
  • Unwanted physical touching, requests for sexual acts
  • Threats of violence, persecution or coercion, rape

UniSAFE: European research project on gender-based violence at European universities

Between January and May 2022, UniSAFE coordinated the implementation of a survey among 46 participating universities and research organisations in 15 countries in Europe to collect measurable evidence on the prevalence of gender-based violence in academia and research. With over 42,000 responses from staff and students, the survey is the largest conducted so far in the European Research Area.

The prevalence of gender-based violence is defined as the proportion of respondents who have experienced any form of gender-based violence asked about in the survey since they started working or studying at their institution. These different forms of gender-based violence consist of physical violence, psychological violence, economic violence, sexual violence, sexual harassment, and online violence. More information on how gender-based violence is defined in the project can be found here.

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