Social Safety at the Faculty

A brief explanation of these terms can help you recognise that something is not okay.

• Sexual harassment
  Unwanted remarks or innuendo, inappropriate comments, touching, staring with a sexual connotation, or pressure to engage in intimate contact. It does not matter whether it was meant “as a joke” – what matters is how it makes you feel.
• Bullying
  Bullying means repeated and intentional behaviour that aims to, or in effect does, humiliate, intimidate, devalue or exclude another person. This may include insults, ridicule, spreading rumours, excluding someone from the group, undermining someone’s authority, or disrupting the work or study environment.
  Bullying can occur in all types of relationships at the faculty – between students, between staff members, or between students and teachers or other staff – regardless of age, status or discipline.

• Bossing
  A specific form of bullying where a superior abuses their position to humiliate a subordinate or systematically make their work more difficult or unpleasant.

• It is not your fault.
• Do not downplay your feelings.
• Confide in someone you trust and, if needed, ask them for help.
• Contact a designated contact person or the Ombudsperson. They will listen to you and help you navigate the faculty’s social safety system.
• Write down what happened (date, place, what was said/done). Keep any evidence of inappropriate behaviour. It may be useful later.
• You are not alone. In the section Who can I contact? you will find places where you can talk to trained professionals.

• If it is safe to do so, stand up for the person being targeted. Some tips on what you can do are shown in this video. Sometimes it is enough to interrupt the harassment by placing yourself between the person harassing and the person being harassed so that they have a chance to leave the uncomfortable situation. (Inspiring video here.)
• If you witness a physical conflict that is happening or about to happen and you do not feel able to intervene directly (which is okay), call the Police of the Czech Republic (tel. 158).
• Offer support to the person affected, for example by suggesting where they can seek help. In case of injury, call the emergency medical service at 155.

When someone tells you they have experienced or are experiencing sexual harassment, bullying, manipulation or another form of inappropriate behaviour or violence, the most important thing is to give them space and reassure them that you take them seriously. You do not need to have ready-made advice or concrete solutions. What matters is to listen, not to judge, and to gently offer contacts and options for support.

You can start with simple sentences such as:

• “Thank you for telling me.”
• “Would you like to tell me more about it?”
• “I’m here with you.”

Avoid sentences that minimise the seriousness of the situation or create pressure. Even well-meant phrases like “I’m sure he/she didn’t mean it badly” or “You should deal with this immediately” can be hurtful. Downplaying the situation may make the person feel oversensitive or as if they provoked what happened.

An immediate call to action can in turn increase feelings of helplessness and fear, which may lead to paralysis rather than action. Remember that talking about such an experience is very brave, and that people need different amounts of time before they are ready to take the next step.

Your support is not about solving the situation for the other person. It means being by their side, listening without interrupting, and gradually offering possible forms of help and support. Creating a safe environment in which the person knows they are not alone is often the first step towards finding a way forward.

The specific options for action that you read about in the section Who can I contact? can be offered gently and with regard to the other person’s needs, for example:

• “We can go and report this together if you’d like.”
• “We can try to write it down if you don’t want to talk about it with strangers.”
• “If you want, I can help you find someone you can talk to about this.”

Finally, we would like to remind you that in conversations about such difficult experiences, intense emotions can appear – sadness, silence, laughter, but also anger. People react differently: some cry, others shout, some try to lighten the situation with humour. All of this is okay. Your task is not to stop or “fix” these emotions. Support is not about doing everything perfectly, but about being willing to be present even when you are not sure what to say.

“Support phrase translator”:

If you experience or witness inappropriate behaviour, you are not alone. You can contact:

• Ombudsperson

The faculty Ombudsperson is an independent, impartial person you can turn to in situations where you experience or witness inappropriate behaviour – for example bullying, sexual harassment, discrimination, humiliation or unequal treatment. The Ombudsperson helps you navigate possible options, offers a confidential space for conversation and supports you in what you need.
The Ombudsperson listens, examines reports, helps to look for fair and safe ways of resolving conflicts and supports a culture of mutual respect at the faculty.
You can contact the Ombudsperson when:
• You are not sure whether what is happening qualifies as inappropriate behaviour and you want to talk it through safely.
• You need to share an unpleasant experience you have had or witnessed.
• You want to learn about your options without making an official report.
• You want to formally report inappropriate behaviour.
• You need accompaniment, support, or help with deciding what to do next.
• You want to contribute to improving the faculty environment – even without a specific case.
What the Ombudsperson can do:
• Offer a confidential conversation and a safe space to share your experience.
• Review your report and suggest next steps (with respect for your own decisions).
• Facilitate dialogue or mediation between the parties involved, if this is appropriate and desired.
• Provide support in contacting other institutions (psychological counselling centre, university Ombudsperson, faculty leadership).
• Recommend systemic measures to the faculty to improve the atmosphere and prevent inappropriate behaviour.
What the Ombudsperson cannot do:
• Impose disciplinary or other formal sanctions (this is the role of other bodies).
• Decide on the course of further proceedings on behalf of the Academic Senate or the Dean.
• Act without your knowledge and consent (except in situations required by law).
• Provide professional psychological or legal services (but can refer you to the right services).

• Contact persons

Designated contact persons at the faculty can listen to you, provide basic support and information, and help you navigate the available options and services.

• Dean

If something seriously wrong is happening at the faculty, the Dean should know so that they can act. You can rely on the Dean to address such matters.

• Faculty Academic Senate (PřF JU)

The Faculty Senate is here for you – this is not just a phrase. The Senate functions not only as a faculty supervisory body, but also as a bridge between students, staff and the faculty leadership. It includes both staff and student representatives. Do not hesitate to contact them; they will do their best to help.

• JU Psychological Counselling Centre

The university psychological counselling service provides free and confidential consultations for staff and students who find themselves in a difficult life or study situation. The downside is that demand is high, so it may take some time before an appointment becomes available.

• JU Ombudsperson

The JU Ombudsperson provides confidential support to university employees in dealing with workplace conflicts, disputes and complaints. Among other things, they deal with complaints concerning inappropriate or arrogant behaviour of superiors or colleagues, sexual harassment, bullying, mobbing, bossing or other forms of disruption of social safety that are not adequately addressed by existing regulations.

• Student Evaluation of Teaching

If you experience mistreatment during teaching – for example, a teacher makes sexist comments or humiliates you – do not keep it to yourself. If you prefer not to use any of the options above, you can use the Student Evaluation of Teaching (SHV). It works. What you write there is taken seriously – but we need to know that something is happening in order to address it. The evaluation is anonymous.

• Police of the Czech Republic

If you suspect that a crime has been committed, call 158 or go to a police station. However, do this only with the consent of the person affected.

• Crisis helplines

Crisis helplines offer anonymous and professional telephone crisis support, usually 24/7. They provide conversations about urgent problems (for example sexual harassment, depression, anxiety or suicidal thoughts), psychosocial support and information about further services, including online forms such as chat, Skype or e-mail.

• White Circle of Safety

Bílý kruh bezpečí (“White Circle of Safety”) is a non-profit organisation that has been providing comprehensive support to victims of crime and domestic violence for over 30 years. They can help you by:
• Operating the 24/7 helpline 116 006 for victims of crime and domestic violence.
• Providing specialised social counselling: legal information, psychological and social support, practical advice and information.
• Running a network of counselling centres: they offer both office-based and outreach support in different regions of the Czech Republic, including a counselling centre in České Budějovice.

• ProFem

proFem is a non-profit organisation that has been supporting victims of domestic and sexual violence for over 30 years. It provides legal, social and psychotherapeutic counselling. It does not have a branch in České Budějovice, but it runs a 24/7 client helpline: +420 608 222 277, an This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. service and an anonymous online chat.

• Save the numbers for the Police of the Czech Republic (158), the emergency medical service (155) and the general emergency number (112) in your phone. Remember that in a crisis your memory may not work well (and probably won’t), so make it easier for yourself.
• Download the “Záchranka” emergency app. It has a number of functions, but the most important is that it allows you to call an ambulance that automatically receives your location.
• Download the university app “StuduJU”. In addition to many useful features for your studies or teaching, it will in the future also send alerts about extraordinary situations on campus. 
• Watch the videos:

• about how to stand up for someone being targeted (Nemusíš – můžeš: Mě se to netýká / “It’s none of my business”)
• about the impacts of sexualised violence and what to do and not to do (Nemusíš – můžeš: Ne znamená ne / “No means no”)
• about sexual pressure from a teacher (Nemusíš – můžeš: Něco za něco / “Something for something”)
• about sharing intimate photos and blackmail (Nemusíš – můžeš: Byla to jen fotka / “It was just a photo”)

• Educate yourself. We recommend the website and book Moderní sebeobrana (“Modern Self-Defence”), which explains in detail how to react when someone harasses or attacks you – and above all how to prevent such situations as much as possible. Several copies will be available to borrow in the Faculty of Science building. You can also practise reactions to various situations in the app OMG! by the organisation Konsent.