Guideline on the procedure in cases of harassment

This guideline explains how Maailmanvaihto will respond to reports of harassment, unequal treatment, racism or other inappropriate behaviour in Maailmanvaihto’s activities. The reported case will be processed with the consent of the person who has been subjected to harassment.

1) A report of harassment can be made through the online form on the Maailmanvaihto homepage or, for example, in person to the event organiser, by emailing the harassment contact person or an office staff member, or by contacting the office staff via telephone. A verbal report of harassment will be carefully documented.

2) The data from the harassment reports will only be used to process the case and will only be kept for the time required to process it. All parties involved will be informed of the end of the process.

3) Cases of harassment are processed by Maailmanvaihto office staff and the board:

1. Reports sent through the online form are forwarded to the Secretary General’s email. In the absence of the Secretary General, the report will be received by another member of the office staff. The recipient will inform the harassment contact person and the chairperson of the board.
2. Reports received by other means will also be forwarded to the Secretary General of Maailmanvaihto and to the harassment contact person and the chairperson of the board.
3. Anonymous reports or reports without contact details will not be processed but will be taken into account in developing Maailmanvaihto’s activities. If the report contains the sender’s contact details, the recipient of the report will contact the sender to ask for their preferences on how the case should be processed. The case will only be processed with the consent of the person subjected to harassment.
4. Once consent has been given, the report will be processed as soon as possible and within a maximum of three weeks by the harassment contact person and the staff member responsible for the activity where the harassment took place. If a staff member or board member has been involved in the harassment case, they will not be involved in the processing of the harassment report.
5. The processing of the case and the measures taken are carefully documented. Data will be processed and stored in accordance with the Privacy Policy. After the case has been processed, the data will be kept anonymised by Maailmanvaihto in order to improve the processing of harassment reports.

4) The person telling they have experienced harassment will not be left alone at Maailmanvaihto. The harassment contact person and the staff member who handles the case will hear out and support the person and inform him or her about psychological and other support services.

5) The Maailmanvaihto harassment contact person and the staff member will try to form as objective a picture as possible of what happened. They first interview separately the person who reported the harassment (and the subject of the harassment if different from the reporter) and the suspected harasser. The harassed person and the suspected harasser may then be heard together, if the parties and the gravity of the situation allow it. The person accused of harassment is guaranteed the right to be heard.

6) The case can be settled between the parties if this is satisfactory for the parties and if the gravity of the situation allows it. The mediation will be supported by the harassment contact person and the staff member who handle the case.

7) If mediation does not suit the parties, mediation is not possible because of the gravity of the situation, or mediation does not help, the Maailmanvaihto harassment contact person and the staff member may issue a warning to the harasser or restrict or prohibit the harasser’s right to stay on the premises or participate in the activities of the organization. The duration of the restriction or prohibition will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

8) The harassment contact person and the staff member can help in seeking help and moving criminal law matters forward.

9) In the case of a change of the harassment contact person or staff members, the new board harassment contact person or staff members will be informed of the on-going harassment cases, according to the wishes of the reporter. The old board may oblige the new board to implement the measures decided upon. In on-going cases, the old board may make a recommendation on how the new board should proceed with the case.