Stand up for respect.
It takes courage to step up to the plate and help when someone is acting inappropriately towards another person. The current Respect campaign at ETH Zurich demonstrates how to put an end to a difficult situation when others won’t and how to switch from being a passive bystander to an active upstander
“You’ve come a long way. For a woman.” “I think he’s pretty. Gay.” “A good idea. But useless without a doctorate.” Do any of these statements sound familiar to you? Or maybe you’ve been on the receiving end of similar sentiments? They come from the new Respect campaign, which aims to raise awareness among all ETH members about various types of inappropriate behaviour in everyday life (at university and otherwise), and motivate people to stand up for more respect. As part of the campaign, the statements are being shortened to reflect the slogan “Put a full stop. When others don’t.” in a way that makes a real impact: “You’ve come a long way”, “I think he’s pretty” or “A good idea” Full stop.
Focussing on upstanders
As a subject of discussion, respect is nothing new at ETH: the first campaign relating to it was launched back in 2004, with further awareness campaigns following in 2017/18. The Code of Conduct and other measures were then introduced in 2019. In autumn 2021, the Respect campaign will enter a new phase by shining the spotlight on what it calls upstanders. So what can we do to get involved and help a person in a difficult situation when someone else is acting inappropriately? “We want the campaign to motivate all ETH members to switch from being passive, observing bystanders to active upstanders,” explains Ernestine Hildbrand, Human Stand up for respect. It takes courage to step up to the plate and help when someone is acting inappropriately towards another person. The current Respect campaign at ETH Zurich demonstrates how to put an end to a difficult situation when others won’t and how to switch from being a passive bystander to an active upstander. Resources project manager. “Often, people who are on the receiving end of inappropriate behaviour find it hard to defend themselves. Behaviour such as bullying, harassment and discrimination can cause significant stress and anxiety, and even lead to psychological issues. That’s why it’s so important for ETH members to stand up for victims in situations like these. Ultimately, we are all responsible for shaping the culture of our university.”
Translating theory into practice
As we all know, however, what sounds good in theory doesn’t necessarily work in practice: not everyone finds it easy to intervene when a colleague receives inappropriate comments during a meeting. “It’s understandable that people hesitate to get involved, because it definitely takes a lot of courage to do so,” admits Julia Dannath-Schuh, Vice President for Personnel Development and Leadership. In the interview below, however, psychologist Eva Gottschewski provides a few tips on the best ways to react in these situations. “Standing up for respect is something you can practise – and that pays off,” says Julia Dannath-Schuh. “In the end, respectful interaction results in outstanding teamwork, and this is one of the keys to our university’s excellent reputation.”
“Some of my female friends avoid going to certain places because they are afraid of being harassed. I think that’s really bad, and you should definitely help if you see something like that. For example, you could pretend to be a friend of a woman who is in trouble.”
Clément Estreicher, 22, EPFL exchange student at D-ARCH
“I think what would really help shape a respectful culture is if the achievements of people of different backgrounds and genders were publicised more. This would show that absolutely everyone has it in them to achieve their goals and that they deserve to be respected and valued as individuals.”
Louise Larrson, 26, doctoral student at D-HEST
«I stepped in and helped when a dark-skinned woman with a small child wanted to get onto the train and she was being pushed around by people from all sides. Sometimes you just have to wake people up and show them what’s happening right in front of them.»
Esther Birk, 50, employee at the Info and Service Center
“As a member of the LGBTQ community, I have often been on the receiving end of disrespectful behaviour. I usually try to reason with the person doing it, and if that doesn’t help, I move away from them. But I’ve also had a fellow passenger on the train intervene and say ‘Just leave them alone, they’re not harming you’. That really helped.”
Sebastijan Gec, 27, ETH Store employee
How to become an upstander
Eva Gottschewski has been a certified psychologist and coach for 20 years. She is a member of the internal advice and conciliation service respect.
How many enquiries does the advice and conciliation service respect receive per year?
Last year we received over 160 enquiries from people who felt that they had been treated inappropriately. The majority of the reports we get are to do with conflicts involving line managers, other employees or students.
Do you think that most people report inappropriate behaviour?
I’m afraid that in a lot of cases people assume that it won’t do any good to report an incident, or they even worry that it would do more harm than good. However, I’d still encourage these people to seek advice – at least on an informal basis – about possible steps that they could take if they do wish to pursue things further. Consultations with our team are strictly confidential and we do not initiate any steps without the consent of the person seeking advice.
How do passive observers become active upstanders?
By acting immediately when they see that something isn’t right. That’s the ideal scenario, in any case, because it’s much easier to resolve conflicts that have just happened, as opposed to those that are so far back in the past that the “guilty” party has forgotten all about them – or pretends to have forgotten. In addition, intervening directly reduces the likelihood of behaviour patterns becoming ingrained and helps to prevent the situation from escalating. Of course, you can also become an upstander after witnessing an incident – for example, you could help the person involved and accompany them to an advice service centre.
It takes courage to step up and help others in a tight spot. How can we muster it up?
I’m not sure there’s an instant trick to help you boost your courage in any given situation – but I do know that the more I try to help others, the easier it becomes to stand up for respectful behaviour the next time around.
Are there any strategies that upstanders can use during an incident?
Yes, there are a few:
-You can intervene right at the beginning and point out that boundaries are being violated. It’s much easier to do this early on rather than wait until the situation has escalated.
-You can make it clear that you’ve seen that something is wrong; for example, by asking the person involved if everything is OK. The person who’s suspected of causing problems will realise that others are watching, while the person being targeted will realise that they’re not alone.
-You can get help by involving other bystanders: “Have you seen what’s going on here? That’s not right!”
-You can involve line managers, many of whom might not even be aware that someone in their team is acting inappropriately. ∙
-You can encourage the victim to report the incident to a contact and advice service and ask for help.
People who are higher up on the hierarchical ladder often feel that they are above the rules when it comes to inappropriate behaviour. What’s the best way for me to react if someone in my group is being treated disrespectfully by a line manager? I might be afraid that I’ll end up in trouble if I intervene…
It is absolutely normal to be afraid of consequences like these, and unfortunately these situations happen quite frequently. We often hear that line managers show a lack of respect to more than one person in their group. In these cases, I always think it’s important to emphasise that you are not attacking your line manager, but providing feedback that will hopefully be seen as an incentive for change. At the end of the day, line managers don’t want to be the subject of an official investigation and should welcome timely feedback.
“I’m really happy with the culture in my research group. We are an interdisciplinary team, so it is especially important that everyone is treated equally and that everyone’s background is taken into account and valued. I think we’re very fortunate that that’s the case in our group.”
Håvar Junker, 25, doctoral student at D-MAV
This article appeared in the current ETH magazine "life".
Contact and advice services
ETH Zurich offers various contact and advice service centres that provide employees and students with professional and confidential counselling services. With such a wide range of services available, it might be difficult to know which door to knock on first. But, as Eva Gottschewski insists: “If you need any kind of support, the most important thing is just to get in touch somehow. Any of our counsellors will help you find what you need, so you don’t need to worry about contacting lots of different places with your concerns.”
“Respect events 2021” in November
As part of the ETH Respect campaign, ETH Zurich will be holding a series
of events all about respect from 10 to 30 November 2021. All ETH members are invited to engage with various aspects of respect in workshops, lectures and other events. The programme and registration details can be found here.