Inappropriate behaviour - Medicine

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• What do we mean by unacceptable behaviour?

  Verbal, non-verbal, physical, digital, or other behaviour that affects the personal integrity of another person, including bullying, discrimination, undesired sexual advances, racist behaviour, aggression and violence. In short, if you feel that someone’s verbal, non-verbal or physical behaviour is really not acceptable, you can report it.

  Some examples of harassment that could be reported are:

  • Stalking: continually spying on, surveillance of, following or harassing someone, either by telephone or in some other way.
  • Discrimination: verbal, non-verbal or physical behaviour that can lead to unfair treatment and exclusion on the basis of such things as gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, religion or world view. Discrimination can range from belittling comments to systematic exclusion.
  • Sexual intimidation or sexual harassment (verbal or physical): comments, gestures and actions that have a sexual charge and that the person targeted experiences as undesired. Non-verbal sexual harassment includes statements, messages, images or gestures with a sexual innuendo, but also staring or romantic overtures. Physical sexual harassment ranges from unwanted touching to grabbing someone or blocking their way, to sexual assault and rape.
  • Aggression and violence can generally be divided into three types:
    1. Verbal aggression (name calling, yelling or becoming over-heated in discussions)
    2. Physical aggression (kicking, pushing, hitting, spitting, biting, vandalising)
    3. Psychological aggression (oral or written threats, intimidation, blackmail, degradation, bullying or cyber bullying).

• Awareness campaign #Should I say something? (#Zou ik wat zeggen?)

  The campaign #Should I say something targets workplace harassment. With this manifesto, the Faculty of Medicine at VU Amsterdam wants to show that we stand together for a safe study and working environment. Safety is not created by regulations, but by dialogue: learning what your boundaries are and respecting those of other people. With the support of nine goodwill ambassadors, this issue will be given a prominent place on every agenda in the coming years. This awareness campaign was initiated by the Faculty of Medicine of VU Amsterdam, but will soon be shared and supported by other university medical centres and hospitals.

  Curious about the campaign and our ambassadors? Check out the website here.