Cyprus’ Ministry of Education has distributed a new code of practice to schools for preventing and addressing sexual harassment in public education services, following a recent sexual harassment case under investigation at the ministry.
The Ministry has instructed school administrations to inform their staff about the new guidelines.
The code aims to prevent and address harassment and sexual harassment, covering all employees in public education services, including permanent civil servant educators, indefinite-term educators, and contract teachers.
According to the document, the code:
“Informs public education service employees about the concepts of ‘harassment’ and ‘sexual harassment’, the protection provided by current legislation against behaviour that may constitute sexual harassment or harassment, their rights whenever they may be subjected to harassment or sexual harassment, and the actions they should take when they believe they are victims,” the ministry stated.
The guidelines promote education and training for employees regarding the importance of equal treatment between men and women, prohibition of discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation, and preventing and combating harassment or sexual harassment.
The code encourages employees to participate in preventing and addressing harassment in the workplace and creating a friendly work environment for all employees regardless of gender or sexual orientation.
It also encourages authorities to adopt and implement harassment prevention policies in the workplace and establish monitoring mechanisms to evaluate and improve performance.
The ministry said the code promotes cooperation between authorities and employees to maintain a healthy and safe work environment characterised by mutual respect, courtesy, honesty, understanding, and mutual support.
The document serves as a tool to provide immediate protection to any employee who believes they are experiencing sexual harassment or harassment or who has experienced harassment, including protection from potential retaliatory actions resulting from reporting such incidents.
It also defines the obligations of authorities whenever they suspect harassment or sexual harassment, become aware of such incidents, or receive related complaints.
The code guides authorities on properly and promptly addressing harassment complaints and protecting victims and other parties involved in investigating each complaint.
The code clarifies that the relevant authority must protect employees and is obligated to take measures. Otherwise, “the authority is jointly responsible with the person who committed the prohibited acts,” according to the code.
