Board of Governors agreement of 24 February 2021

Preamble

This annex specifies the principles for personal and professional conduct that shall govern interaction between others members of the university community and with subcontracted personnel who work on UPF premises. These principles are based on Law 17/2015, of 21 July, on effective equality between women and men; Law 11/2014, of 10 October, for guaranteeing the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people and eradicating homophobia, biphobia and transphobia; and Law 17/2020, of 22 December, amending Law 5/2008 on the right of women to eradicate gender-based violence, which, in Article 5.8, lists educational settings as one of the areas in which this type of violence may occur. At the same time, the laws governing universities ensure that students have the right to exercise their academic rights without discrimination of any kind for reasons of sex (Article 46b of Organic Law 4/2007, of 12 April, on universities) and to non-sexist treatment (Article 46j of Organic Law 4/2007), and mandate gender mainstreaming through the promotion of actions in all areas of universities (eighth additional provision of Law 1/2003, of 19 February, on Catalan universities).

Specifically, the annex expands upon Principle II.5 of the UPF Code of Ethics, approved by the Board of Governors on 8 July 2020, on effective equality between women and men and non-discrimination for reasons of sex, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression, and ties in with strategic objective 1.1 of the Second Isabel de Villena Equality Plan (approved by the Board of Governors on 4 July 2018), on the promotion of a culture of equality among members of the university community, and strategic objective 5.1, on the prevention, detection and contribution to eradicating gender-based violence and LGBTi-phobia in university settings. This annex also expands upon Article 8.2 of the protocol for preventing and resolving disputes relating to gender-based violence, homophobia, biphobia and transphobia (approved by the Board of Governors on 11 April 2018), which reflects the mandate to develop and disseminate codes of good professional practices (for PDI and PAS) and academic practices (for students).

 

PRINCIPLES OF ACTION FOR GENDER EQUALITY

Principles of action for PDI and PAS

PDI and PAS at UPF must, in the performance of their duties, ensure that they eliminate gender stereotypes and discrimination for reasons of sex, sexual orientation or gender identity in both their work settings and the university environment. They must therefore always adopt a respectful and courteous attitude when communicating and interacting both on and off campus with members of the university community and subcontracted personnel who work on UPF premises. Furthermore, they must play an active role in preventing sexual harassment, gender-based violence, homophobia, lesbophobia, biphobia and transphobia. Specifically, PDI and PAS:

  • Shall refrain from jokingly or light-heartedly using unpleasant or offensive sex-related words or expressions, whether personally or via any other medium.
  • Shall refrain from performing acts with sexual overtones, including deliberate, unwanted and unnecessary touching or caressing or obscene looks that intimidate or make others uncomfortable; and exhibiting pornographic or sexually provocative materials at work.
  • Shall not put to degrading use images of a member of the university community or subcontracted personnel who provide services at UPF via social media or any other medium.
  • Shall not insinuate work-related or academic benefits in exchange for sexual favours of threaten with work-related or academic retributions as a means of applying pressure for dates or sexual encounters. In any case, it should be recalled that any unsolicited non-academic invitation which may be interpreted as sexual in nature constitutes harassment where such invitations are repeated and unwanted.
  • Shall refrain from commenting on a person’s looks, manners or clothing, or on their sexual orientation or gender expression.
  • Shall avoid unequal and unwanted forms of courtesy (e.g. two kisses for women), particularly with students.
  • Shall not ignore, mock or denigrate the knowledge, capacities or abilities or a person or particular group of people for reasons of sex, non-normative sexual orientation, identity or gender expression, both in the classroom and all other professional settings.
  • Shall not make discrediting or mocking remarks, jokes, gestures or offensive comments of a sexist, homophobic, lesbophobic, biphobic or transphobic nature in academic or work settings at the University.
  • Shall not assign or request that a person perform certain tasks based on gender or LGBTi-phobic bias.
  • Shall not flout or publicly ridicule recognised rights regarding equality and diversity.
  • Shall call transgender persons by their chosen name and use the pronouns with which they identify.
  • Shall not challenge persons with non-normative gender expressions or identities over using a certain toilet or changing room.

PDI and PAS at UPF must be familiar with the protocol for preventing and resolving disputes relating to gender-based violence, homophobia, biphobia and transphobia and the support measures available at the University through the Equality Unit for people in these situations.

  • PDI and PAS must enrich their knowledge of violence and harassment prevention by taking part in the training and awareness-raising sessions organised by the University.
  • In the event they learn about a case of sexual harassment, gender-based violence, homophobia, lesbophobia, biphobia or transphobia affecting any member of the university community, they shall inform those affected about the protocol and Equality Unit and report the incident to this unit.

The principles of personal and professional conduct are particularly applicable to teaching, tutorial and supervisory activities. Specifically, PDI:

  • Shall ensure that they refrain from using gender stereotypes and discrimination when teaching.
    • Shall not use texts or materials that may be humiliating or offensive due to their sexist or LGBTi-phobic nature, except in the case of activities whose explicit objective is to address such discrimination and promote critical thinking among students.
    • Shall promote equal participation in class.
    • Shall refrain from using words or behaving in the classroom or other learning settings in such a way as to create an intimidating, degrading or offensive environment by discriminating, denigrating or ridiculing students for reasons of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression or any other reason (e.g. functional diversity or ethnicity). Nor may these traits be used as a basis for judging the personality or capacities of the students or assigning differentiated tasks.
    • Shall always call transgender students by their chosen name and use the pronouns with which they identify.
    • Shall always lead by example whenever possible by writing and communicating with such students in a professional style.
    • Shall refrain from using their academic freedom to flout legally recognised rights regarding gender equality and sexual diversity.
    • Teaching staff must enrich their knowledge of gender mainstreaming in teaching by taking part in the training and awareness-raising sessions organised by the University.
  • Shall play an active role in preventing sexual harassment, gender-based violence, homophobia, lesbophobia, biphobia and transphobia.
    • Tutorials and exam revisions must always be conducted with the door open.
    • When communicating with students, teaching staff shall always use the University telephone system and e-mail address and avoid personal messaging services (e.g. WhatsApp) and social media (e.g. Twitter).
    • On-site meetings and tutorials with students must take place on campus. In the event this is not possible, they shall take place in a public space, such as a library or cafeteria.
    • The integrity of the teacher-student (undergraduate, graduate or doctoral) relationship is the cornerstone of the University’s educational mission. Due to the unequal balance of power inherent to this relationship, in the event a PDI engages in a consensual and mutually agreed romantic or sexual relationship with a student who they are teaching, tutoring or whose research they are supervising, the teaching, supervisory or tutorial activity shall be reorganised to prevent potential abuses of power and conflicts of interest.

Principles of student conduct

Students at UPF must ensure that they eliminate gender stereotypes and discrimination for reasons of sex, sexual orientation or gender identity in both their place of study and the university environment. Furthermore, they must play an active role in preventing sexual harassment, gender-based violence, homophobia, lesbophobia, biphobia and transphobia. They must therefore always adopt a respectful and courteous attitude when communicating and interacting both on and off campus with members of the university community and subcontracted personnel who work on UPF premises. Specifically, students:

  • Shall refrain from jokingly or light-heartedly using unpleasant or offensive sex-related words or expressions, whether personally or via any other medium.
  • Shall refrain from performing acts with sexual overtones, including deliberate, unwanted and unnecessary touching or caressing or obscene looks that intimidate or make others uncomfortable, and exhibiting pornographic or sexually provocative materials in the study environment.
  • Shall refrain from making repeated advances to begin a romantic or sexual relationship, despite having been rejected.
  • Shall not put to degrading use images of a member of the university community or subcontracted personnel who provide services at UPF via social media or any other medium.
  • Shall not adopt unequal attitudes for reasons of sex, sexual orientation or gender identity with other students (e.g. when choosing work group members, in class debates, etc.), PDI or PAS. For example, if the student treats men formally, they should do the same with women (if they address male lecturers formally, as “doctor” or use their surname, they should do the same with female lecturers).
  • Shall safeguard the dignity and privacy of all persons and the right to not be subjected to any kind of physical, psychological or sexual violence for reasons of sex, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression, including harassment via electronic means (e-mail, WhatsApp, etc.) or social media.
  • Shall always call transgender students, PAS and PDI by their chosen name and use the pronouns with which they identify.
  • Shall not challenge persons with non-normative gender expressions or identities over using a certain toilet or changing room.
  • Shall make sure not to include implicit gender biases when evaluating their satisfaction with the subjects and teaching staff in the quarterly teaching assessments. Given that sexism operates jointly with other forms of discrimination (sexual orientation, nationality, functional diversity, etc.), the students shall take this into account when evaluating the teaching staff.
  • The students must enrich their knowledge of violence and harassment prevention by taking part in the training and awareness-raising sessions organised by the University.
  • In the event they learn about a case of sexual harassment, gender-based violence, homophobia, lesbophobia, biphobia or transphobia affecting a student, they shall inform the person affected about the protocol and Equality Unit and report the incident to this unit.
  • Any student who mentors other students, due to their position of trust, must exhibit exemplary behaviour and ensure that the setting and their behaviour are adequate for the mentoring activities.

See the Pompeu Fabra University Code on Violent Behaviour, Discrimination and Harassment