Lund University’s Equal Opportunities Plan states that the organisation is to safeguard democracy, legality, impartiality, freedom of opinion, respect for everyone’s equal value, efficiency and service, and human rights and freedoms.

The organisation is founded on gender equality, equal opportunities and diversity – supported by the University’s Strategic Plan and the Discrimination Act. Among other things, this means that employees, students and those seeking employment or studies at Lund University are to be treated and assessed without regard to irrelevant factors such as sex, transgender identity or expression, disability, ethnicity, religion or other belief, sexual orientation or age. 

Lund University is to be a place free from discrimination and there is a zero-tolerance policy towards victimisation, harassment and sexual harassment. The University also has zero-tolerance on reprisals for those who report shortcomings or wrongdoing. It is essential that all staff and students at the University treat each other with respect and understanding in order to create a good work and learning environment.

Common procedure and equal handling for different types of abusive conduct

Lund University has a common procedure for how different types of abusive conduct are to be dealt with. The procedure is more-or-less the same, but the handling differs slightly depending on whether the person who has behaved offensively is a member of staff or a student. The purpose of having a common procedure is to make it easy for managers, employees and students to know what to do in the event of abusive conduct.

As line manager or operational manager responsible for education, if you become aware of something that could constitute abusive conduct you must act quickly. You are responsible for starting an investigation. You are also responsible for putting in place measures to stop the abusive conduct and prevent it from happening again.

There is support available to you in this work on these webpages and from the organisation’s different administrative services, such as your closest HR officer and the work environment coordinator at your department or faculty. Support is also available for the representative of the education. This may take different forms depending on the faculty. Specialised support in the investigation and work environment measures is also available from the systematic preventive work against discrimination (Swedish abbreviation SFAD) team and externally procured providers.

The SFAD team

Lund University has set aside resources specifically dedicated to ensuring the professional handling of cases related to victimisation, harassment and sexual harassment. These resources are channelled through the SFAD team. The SFAD team is also to support work to prevent victimisation and discrimination. 

Read more about the SFAD team