Definitions on sexual harassment/bullying/stalking/discrimination
Below you will find the definitions of discrimination, stalking, bullying, sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape.
Discrimination is a degradation of the dignity, rights and freedoms of the individual, which are inviolable under the Basic Law. Discrimination can be, for example: derogatory remarks, comments or jokes and/or actions based on:
- national and/or social origin
- skin colour
- descent
- disability
- gender
- religious and/or ideological orientation
- political opinion
- sexual orientation
- illness
- age
In the case of stalking, a person repeatedly attempts to make unwanted contact with another person and to force a rapprochement with him or her. The Criminal Code includes stalking under the term "stalking" in section 238 of the Criminal Code as a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment of up to three years or a fine.
Individual acts within the meaning of § 238 StGB are:
- Seeking physical proximity to the victim
- Attempting to establish contact with the victim
- Ordering goods or services for the victim
- threatening the victim or a close person with injury to life, physical integrity, health or freedom
- Inducing a third party to contact the victim
- Other similar acts
Bullying is defined as "the systematic hostility, harassment or discrimination of employees against each other or by superiors" (BAG decision of 15 January 1997, ref.: 7 ABR 14/96).
Typical acts of mobbing are:
- destructive criticism which is humiliating and unobjective or which, as permanent control
- aimed at attrition,
- Attacks against the employee's performance, for example, ordering meaningless tasks, assigning objectively too much work or systematically under-demanding tasks,
- attacks on the continuity of the employment relationship, such as allegations of misconduct.
- allegations of misconduct, arbitrary warnings or deliberately unjustified poor job evaluations,
- Attacks against social integration at the workplace or social reputation,
- creating fear, horror or disgust, or failure to help.
Sexual harassment is defined as "anyone who is unilaterally made the object of sexually motivated, unwanted acts by a person in the study or work environment of the university experiences discrimination in the sense of the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) or the Baden-Württemberg State University Act (LHG BW).
§ 3 IV AGG defines the following acts as sexual harassment:
- unwanted sexual acts and requests to do so
- sexually determined, unwanted physical touching
- remarks of a sexual nature
- unwanted showing and visible display of pornographic images.
In the StGB (§177 StGB), sexual assault is defined as rape or sexual coercion if someone performs sexual acts on another person or has them perform sexual acts on another person against that person's apparent will. Likewise, anyone who performs sexual acts on another person or has such a person perform sexual acts on him or her or causes such a person to perform or tolerate sexual acts on or by a third person shall be punished if
- the perpetrator takes advantage of the fact that the person is not in a position to form or express a contrary intention
- the perpetrator takes advantage of the fact that the person is considerably restricted in forming or expressing his or her will due to his or her physical or mental condition, unless he or she has assured himself or herself of the person's consent
- the perpetrator takes advantage of an element of surprise
- the perpetrator takes advantage of a situation in which the victim would be threatened with serious harm if he resisted
- the perpetrator has coerced the person to perform or tolerate the sexual act by threatening him/her with a serious evil.
