Gender equality and equal opportunities at the VH Faculty

Last changed: 14 April 2022

Gender equality and equal opportunities is to be achieved by gender mainstreaming and in accordance with the Discrimination Act's requirements for preventive active measures. This applies to the faculty as well as SLU as a whole.

All students and staff should have the same rights and obligations regardless of the seven grounds of discrimination in the Discrimination Act:

  • sex
  • transgender identity or expression
  • ethnicity  
  • religion or other belief
  • disability
  • sexual orientation
  • age

What can you do in the events of harassment?

Here you can find more information that describes:

  • What constitutes discrimination and harassment?
  • How you as an employee can report harassment, sexual harassment and reprisals
  • Reporting harassment – for students
  • If you have seen anybody else being victimised

Are you a manager and in need of support?

All faculties have an equal opportunities administrative officer employed. The equal opportunities officer is to provide support to managers regarding both strategic and operational measures in order to achieve gender equality and equal opportunities.

Contact information for the VH faculty's Equal Opportunities Officer can be found at the bottom of this page.

Here can you find more information about SLU’s work on gender equality and equal opportunities, documents and templets that can support you in your work.

SLU's general web pages and documents regarding gender equality and equal opportunities

Active measures is the concept for the systematic and preventive work that the Discrimination Act requires. Departments can coordinate the active measures work with their systematic work environment work.

Gender mainstreaming is a strategy for achieving Sweden's gender equality policy goals and means that gender equality must be taken into account in all processes and decisions. The government has assigned SLU and all other Swedish higher education institutions a mission to work for increased gender equality through gender mainstreaming.

Here are links to web pages and documents that describe:

VH Faculty’s Committee for equal opportunities

The Committee on Gender Equality and Equal Opportunities (JLV Committee) is a forum at faculty level for discussion and information about the university's ongoing work on gender equality and equal opportunities.

Questions to the JLV committee can be directed to:

Head of the committee: Lena Lidfors, lena.lidfors@slu.se

Equal opportunities officer: Malin Ekström, malin.ekstrom@slu.se

Action plan for equal opportunities at the VH Faculty

Action plan VH Faculty 2022 (prolonged from 2021)

 

Members of the VH Faculty's gender equality and equal opportunities committee

Department contacts for gender equality and equal opportunities

Definitions

What is discrimination?

A simplified description of the Discrimination Act's definition of discrimination is when a person is treated disfavourably or when a person's dignity is violated. The disfavourable treatment or the violation of a person's dignity must have a connection to one of the seven grounds of discrimination. Discrimination can be direct or indirect. Inadequate accessibility, harassment, sexual harassment and instructions to discriminate are also forms of discrimination.

The concept of discrimination can, in a broad sense, include events or chains of events that a person has experienced as, for instance, insulting, unfair, racist, unjust, unequal and so on. However, there are often differences between the legal definitions of discrimination and what people may experience as discriminatory. Here we describe how the Discrimination Act defines discrimination as well as the central concepts that are connected to the definition in the law.

The legal definition of discrimination

A simplified description of the legal definition of discrimination is when a person is treated disfavourably or when a person's dignity is violated. The disfavourable treatment or the violation of a person's dignity must also be related to one of the seven grounds of discrimination:

  • sex
  • transgender identity or expression
  • ethnicity
  • religion or other belief
  • disability
  • sexual orientation
  • age.

The law prohibits six forms of discrimination: direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, inadequate accessibility, harassment, sexual harassment and instructions to discriminate.

https://www.do.se/other-languages/english/what-is-discrimination/

What is Harassment?

Harassment and sexual harassment are two forms of discrimination. Harassment is an act that violates someone's dignity and is linked to one or more of the seven grounds for discrimination. Harassment can also be of a sexual nature and is then called sexual harassment.

Harassment is an act that violates someone's dignity and is linked to one or more of the seven grounds for discrimination. It can be about comments, gestures or bullying. Examples of harassment may be a student who mocks another student for being gay.

Harassment can also be of a sexual nature. It is then called sexual harassment. In addition to comments and words, it may be touch etc. It can also be about unwelcome compliments, invitations and suggestions.

What are "Equal opportunities"?

The term "equal opportunities" is used to describe the work against discrimination.

What is Gender Equality?

Gender equality is usually defined as women and men having the same opportunities, rights and obligations in all areas of life. The area includes issues such as power, influence, finances, health, education, work and physical integrity.

What are the norms?

Social norm - a sociological concept for intersubjective, generally shared, but often implicit, rules and expectations of behavior that apply within a smaller social community or in society at large.

Contact

Malin Ekström, equal opportunities officer

VH Faculty, malin.ekstrom@slu.se, +4618671015, +46730831465