Mission Statement - BIH at Charité

BIH Mission Statement

Effective 01.02.2023 and signed by the BIH Board of Directors.

The BIH is committed to fostering fair and respectful interactions in the workplace and preventing any and all forms of discrimination or unfair treatment.

As a research institute, we self-critically reflect on existing (power) structures and commit ourselves to dismantling exclusion mechanisms.

On an individual level, each and every one of us will assume responsibility and take action to prevent all forms of discrimination, such as racism, abuse of power, sexism, structural discrimination, or marginalization. Employees in leadership roles will assume responsibility commensurate with their position.

We will create and maintain a culture of action and will not look the other way. We accept anti-discrimination measures, and we will reflect self-critically on our behavior within the organizational structures of the BIH as a scientific institution.

Our goal is to foster fair, open and trusting behavior towards one another. We will respect and value everyone at the BIH. We believe that a diverse array of realities and lifestyles enriches our organization.

We want to create a working culture that regards mistakes as an opportunity and empowers all employees to realize their full potential. This will include constructive conflict management and a respectful communication culture that strives towards an acceptable and workable solution for all.

Prejudice and harassment will not be tolerated. Discrimination, abuse of power, sexual harassment, violence, bullying and stalking will not go unpunished. Persons who file a complaint must not experience any disadvantages in matters related to employment law as a result of this complaint, either during the arbitration period or afterwards.

We have established collegial and confidential First Contact Points (FCPs) for anyone who has experienced discrimination or conflict in the workplace. The FCPs will support people in such situations and contribute to constructive and harmonious collaboration.

We will continue to evaluate the impact of our measures and incorporate feedback in order to keep making progress towards our aim.

We will not flag in our efforts to oppose discrimination. We recognize that this is a continuous learning process and we aim to rise to the challenge of promptly recognizing and responding to new forms of discrimination.

Why a mission statement?

We live in a society where people are discriminated against on the basis of their ethnicity or origin, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, dis_ability, age or ideology. A research institute such as ours is not exempt from this. But the BIH wants to take action.
The BIH Board, together with a cross-institutional working group, has actively set the goal of developing a working culture of solidarity and action against the reality of individual, institutional and structural discrimination. This objective is clearly stated in the mission statement.
At BIH, we are committed to a respectful, mindful and fair treatment of each other and do not tolerate discriminatory behaviour.

Download a PDF of the signed Mission Statement

What behaviour is not tolerated at BIH?

In the following you will find a definition of the types of behavior that the BIH will not tolerate. As a fundamental principle, we take the experiences of affected persons seriously and will handle all complaints received. The affected person’s assessment of whether an action constituted a wrongdoing or impropriety may differ from the intention of the person accused of such wrongdoing or impropriety.

People in vulnerable, exposed, dependent or subordinate positions may not feel able to freely and fully express non-consent. It is therefore important to consider the specific situation of the person affected.

In the legal sense, discrimination is any less favorable treatment or consideration based on a person or a group’s “race,” ethnic origin, gender, religion, worldview, disability, age, sexual orientation or socioeconomic status rather than on their individual merit.

Discrimination can be deliberate or unconscious. It draws on prejudices or stereotypical expectations of behavior. Discrimination can be open and direct (“direct discrimination”) – for example when someone is not invited to a job interview because of their name, or when their application for an apartment is rejected because of their skin color.

Sometimes discrimination is more difficult to identify – as in instances of “indirect discrimination.” This can happen in cases when the rules appear neutral but, for instance, when a job ad makes explicit reference to “accent-free German” where this not an actual requirement for performing the job in question.

Often, discrimination is based on an interplay of various elements such as ethnic or social origin, religion or gender. This is known as “multidimensional discrimination.” For example, a woman with an apparently non-German name and non-German origins who is also of Islamic faith is likely to suffer from multidimensional discrimination.

(see www.integrationsbeauftragte.de)
Abuse of power is the misuse of a position of power to gain personal advantage for oneself or someone else by disadvantaging, harming or harassing another person. Such abuses of power can lead to scientific misconduct. In principle, abuse of power can be exercised by anyone who is in a position of power over someone else, even if that position is not formally defined.
Sexual harassment is any form of sexualized verbal or non-verbal, physical behavior that has a negative impact on the affected person and/or is unwanted in the specific case, that offends the dignity of employees or students, and that creates an atmosphere of intimidation, hostility, humiliation, degradation, and/or offense. The decisive element is that the behavior is one-sided and unwelcome.

Types of sexual harassment include:

Unwelcome sexual advances or unwelcome requests for sexual favors

Unwelcome touching or brushing up against a person

Suggestive comments

Unwanted display of pornographic materials

These actions are often deliberate attempts to violate the dignity of the person concerned, particularly when an atmosphere is created of intimidation, hostility, humiliation, degradation, and/or offense.

(see Richtlinie zur Prävention und zum Umgang mit sexueller Belästigung an der Charité– Universitätsmedizin Berlin, §3)
Bullying is defined as repeated and ongoing negative behavior directed at one or several people that creates an atmosphere of hostility. In a bullying situation, the person in question finds it difficult to defend themselves; it is not a conflict between parties of equal strength. Bullying undermines a person’s ability to function normally and impacts on their self-confidence and self-esteem. If these behaviors persist, they can undermine and violate the dignity, motivation and mental health of the employees concerned.

Types of bullying include:

Face-to-face bullying (“direct bullying” that includes physical and verbal attacks)

Covert bullying (indirect bullying, e.g. “whispering campaigns”)

Cyberbullying (threatening or abusive behavior carried out online)
Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated unlawful surveillance, pursuit, pestering, threatening and/or intimidation of a person that may or may not involve physical or verbal abuse. Stalking is not usually a clearly defined single act; rather, it constitutes a series of criminal acts over a longer period of time. Those criminal acts may include defamation, slander, willful damage, coercion, assault and obsessive following. While bullying is similar to stalking in many ways, it is not the same thing. Sometimes incidents will occur that make the affected person feel like they are being stalked although the border has not (yet) been crossed to a criminal act. Frequent motives for stalking are gaining a sense of power, dominance and control over another person and the compulsive need for attention from the affected person, or to establish or maintain contact with them.

(see www.polizei-beratung.de)

Definition of a conflict

Conflict arises when at least two parties have irreconcilable interests, goals, roles or views – or when the parties concerned believe they are irreconcilable. In a case of conflict, at least one of the parties concerned feels a sense of grievance towards the other party and does not wish to cooperate with them.
(Definition according to F. Glasl)

To promote fair and respectful interactions at the BIH

BIH Mission Statement

What behaviour is not tolerated at BIH?

Discrimination

Abuse of Power

Sexual Harassment

Bullying

Stalking

Definition of a conflict