Terms and concepts Glossary

Discrimination is understood to mean a reduction of the dignity, rights and freedoms of the individual, which are inviolable under the German Basic Law.

Discrimination or multiple discrimination can include, for example:

• Discrimination, derogatory remarks, comments or jokes and/or actions based on:
• national, cultural and/or social background
• skin colour
• ancestry
• disability or chronic illness
• gender identity
• religious and/or ideological orientation
• political convictions
• sexual orientation
• age
• the use of documents that prevent equal treatment of the persons covered by the scope of this directive.
• The decisive factor for discrimination is the result, not the motive

In stalking, a person repeatedly attempts to make unwanted contact with another person and to force an approach to them. The German Penal Code covers stalking under the term ‘stalking’ in Section 238 StGB as a criminal offence punishable by a prison sentence of up to three years or a fine.

• Individual offences within the meaning of Section 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
• Initiating contact through third parties
• Other comparable acts

According to the Senate Guideline on Fair Conduct, the term bullying describes negative communicative acts by one person or several other persons that are directed against a person and that occur repeatedly and systematically.

These can be, for example:

• Defamation of fellow employees or their family members
• Spreading rumours that cannot be proven to be true about persons covered by this policy or their families
• Deliberate withholding of necessary information
• Disinformation
• Threats and humiliation
• verbal abuse, hurtful treatment, mockery and aggression
• Unworthy treatment by superiors and colleagues, e.g. the assignment of insulting, unsolvable, pointless or no tasks at all.
• Repeated or coordinated personally insulting statements towards persons covered by the scope of this policy, e.g. in the form of slander in public and university forums.

Bullying is also understood to mean: ‘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 bullying are:

• Destructive criticism that is humiliating and unobjective or is intended as permanent control
• aimed at demoralisation,
• Attacks against the ability to perform, for example ordering pointless activities, assigning objectively too much work or systematically underchallenging activities,
• Attacks against the existence of the employment relationship, for example
• allegations of misconduct, arbitrary warnings or deliberately unjustifiably poor professional judgement,
• Attacks against social integration in the workplace or social reputation,
• Creating fear, horror and disgust, or failing to provide help

According to the Senate Guideline on Fair Conduct, sexual harassment is any sexually explicit behaviour that is not desired by the person concerned or is likely to degrade them as a person. Sexual harassment can be expressed in words, actions, gestures or other sexualised behaviour and represents a subjective transgression of boundaries.

This can be, for example:

• Suggestive remarks, comments or jokes about a person, their body, their behaviour or their private life
• Displaying sexist and pornographic images, regardless of the form (e.g. calendars/screensavers/posters)
• Gestures and non-verbal comments with a sexual connotation
• unwanted solicitation and/or coercion to perform sexual acts
• unwanted physical contact
• sexual discrimination, harassment and violence and exploitation of relationships of dependency in the workplace and vocational training centre.

Section 3 (4) AGG defines the following offences as sexual harassment:

• unwanted sexual behaviour and requests for such behaviour
• sexually explicit, unwanted physical touching
• comments of a sexual nature
• unwanted display and visible display of pornographic images

The following applies: anyone who is unilaterally made the object of sexually motivated, unwanted behaviour by a person in the university's study or work environment is discriminated against within the meaning of the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) or the Baden-Württemberg State Higher Education Act (LHG BW).

The German Penal Code (§ 177 StGB) refers to sexual assault, rape or sexual coercion if someone performs sexual acts on another person against their recognisable will or has them perform sexual acts on them.

Likewise, anyone who performs sexual acts on another person or has them performed on them or induces this person to perform or tolerate sexual acts on or by a third party is also punished if

• taking advantage of the fact that the person is unable to form or express an opposing will
• exploiting the fact that the person is significantly restricted in forming or expressing their will due to their physical or mental condition, unless the consent of this person has been obtained
• an element of surprise is exploited
• a situation is exploited in which the person concerned is threatened with serious harm if they resist
• the person concerned was coerced into performing or tolerating the sexual act by means of a threat of serious harm.