EP Harassment Protocol

AIESEC has approved the present “Harassment and Violence Protocol” (hereafter ‘Protocol’) with the commitment of preventing and tackling sexual harassment, sex or gender-related harassment and/or psychological harassment, as this type of conduct represents a threat to the dignity of persons, damages the workplace atmosphere and has negative effect on the health, moral, confidence and self-esteem of individuals.

With this in view, the present Protocol defines conducts to be avoided as well as specific measures aimed at prevention. It also explains how to process charges or claims that may be presented by individuals who have been victims of the said type of conduct. Consequently, an efficient and agile investigation procedure has been established that will be implemented when the said type of conduct is reported. The said procedure should guarantee confidentiality and protect the identity of the individuals affected and of all those taking part in the process.

To know more details, refer to Annex 1: AIESEC Anti-Harassment and Violence Protocol in the AEPP.

Sexual Harassment is any conduct of a sexual nature, whether verbal or physical, with the purpose of infringing or that infringes on the dignity of a person, particularly when it generates an intimidating, derogatory or offensive environment.

Sexual harassment is distinguished from freely accepted and reciprocal advances to the extent that sexual harassment is unwanted by the person object of the said advances. As an example, and without excluding or limiting other aspects, the types of conduct described below could be considered sexual harassment.

Two types of sexual harassment can be distinguished based on whether the above indicated behavior implies an element of coercion or not.

1. “Quid pro Quo Harassment” This consists in forcing the victim to choose between accepting sexual advances or losing/seeing reduced certain work benefits or conditions that affect that person's access to professional training, employment, promotion, salary or any other decision connected with these issues. As this behavior implies abuse of authority, the individual involved will have the power, whether directly or indirectly, to provide or refuse certain work benefits or situations.

2. "Environmental Harassment” The subject involved in the harassment creates a work environment that is intimidating, hostile, derogatory, humiliating or offensive for the victim, due to unwelcome attitudes and behavior of a sexual nature. This may involve any stakeholders involved with AIESEC, including employees of the company organizations that we work with, host family, etc., regardless of their position or status, or third persons with access to the Branch.

Any conduct, based on a person’s sex, gender and/or sexual orientation, with the purpose of infringing or that infringes on the dignity of the person and generates an intimidating, derogatory or offensive environment.

Mobbing, “moral harassment at the workplace” or “psychological harassment at the workplace” are terms used to describe a situation where the behaviour of a person or group of people includes extreme, abusive and unfair psychological violence, in a systematic and recurring manner, over a prolonged period of time, against another person at the workplace and that may infringe on that person’s dignity. It must be stated that certain hostile actions may take place occasionally in the workplace, although, to be considered psychological harassment they must be, as stated above, systematic, habitual, over long periods of time and targeting one specific individual. Therefore, psychological harassment must not be confused with situations of work-related pressure or conflict. The latter refers to situations where there are disagreements, given that differences of opinion, discussions or eventual conflicts may arise in the workplace. Psychological harassment, on the other hand, consists in a malicious, systematic and sustained attack against a specific person

Below is a list of examples of specific behaviours that, if they comply with the definition indicated in the previous point, may be considered psychological harassment at the workplace, without excluding or limiting other aspects. Harassment based on organisational measures:

1. Forcing a person to perform tasks that go against their conscience.

2. Offensively judging a person's performance, concealing that person's efforts and skills.

3. Questioning and disavowing a person’s decisions.

4. Not assigning any tasks, or assigning pointless or degrading tasks.

5. Refusing or concealing the means to perform a task, or providing incorrect data.

6. Assigning tasks that are clearly above the skills or qualifications of the person, or that require qualifications far below those held by the person.

7. Giving contradictory or impossible orders.

8. Manipulating work tools (for example, deleting computer files).

9. Stealing belongings, documents, tools, etc.

10. Threatening or putting pressure on the people who support the person being harassed.

11. Manipulating, concealing, returning a person’s correspondence, calls and messages.

12. Refusing or complicating access to permits, courses, activities, etc.