Social Sciences

Please refer to the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research's (AISSR) website for more details about the AISSR's confidential councillors for PhD students. 

Child Development and Education (POWL)

Psychology

Communication Science

Please refer to the ASCoR MS Teams page for more details about ASCoR's confidential councillors for PhD students. 

Undesirable behavior occurs when a person (or group) crosses your personal boundaries. it is behaviour that makes you feel uncomfortable and/or unsafe. It is hard to provide a definition of undesirable behaviour as this is always subjective and the boundary is different for each person.

The legal definition of 'undesirable behaviour' mentions the following forms of undesirable behaviour:

• Sexual intimidation: this includes any form of verbal, non-verbal or physical behaviour with a sexual connotation that violates your personal integrity. Examples are unwelcome forms of touch, sexual allusions or comments and stalking.
• Aggression and violence: this can be physical, verbal or psychological in nature (e.g. putting someone under pressure by saying 'there are plenty more who want your job').
• Bullying: repeated behaviour of one or more persons targeting an individual. It can take the form of gossiping about someone, ignoring and/or excluding someone.
• Discrimination on the grounds of religious belief, political orientation, race, sex, nationality, sexual orientation, marital status, age or handicap.

In the first place you can try to resolve the situation yourself, maybe with the help of a friend, fellow student, colleague or supervisor. You can also contact one of the confidential advisers. Don't keep the problem to yourself, as this can cause stress and be damaging to your physical and mental health.

You can contact the confidential adviser if you have expierienced any kind of work or study-related undesirable behaviour. That could be behaviour on the part of staff, students but also other people you come into contact with in the course of your work or studies at the UvA. The undesirable behaviour need not have occurred at an UvA location.

The confidential adviser is there to offer initial support and guidance. he or she will take the time to listen to your story and will help you look for the best solution for your specific situation. The confidential advisers know the UvA well and can help you work out the advantages and disadvantages of the possible steps you can take. In any case you are the one who decides what happens at all times. A confidential adviser can also provide support and advice when engaging the person responsible for the behaviour in conversation. If necessary the confidential adviser will refer you to other specialists who can provide further support and assistance.

All students and staff (whether employed directly or indirectly by the UvA), as well as others who carry out their work at the UvA (as caterers or cleaners for example) can contact a confidential adviser if they experience undesirable behaviour. At least one adviser has been appointed for each faculty or organisational unit, but you can also contact an adviser in another faculty or unit if you are more comfortable with that. The UvA has confidential advisers for students and for staff.

The confidential adviser has a duty of confidentiality that is comparable to a doctor's patient confidentiality. Anything you tell a confidential adviser will be treated with the strictest confidentiaity. All reports received by confidential advisers are registered in anonymised form. A confidential advisor will never undertake action without your explicit consent. A confidential adviser is partial and will be on your side, as listening to your story and providing advice is what they are there for.

There can be reasons why a confidential adviser cannot help you him or herself. For reasons of privacy they may not be able to give you their precise reasons, but it could be due to prior knowledge or because they have a personal connection to one of the persons involved in the situation. The confidential adviser will refer you to one of their colleagues.

The confidential adviser is not a whistleblower or mediator and they cannot help you with a labour dispute. In the case of a labour dispute or legal questions you can contact the confidential adviser for individual legal position (see the contact details above). You can also get support from the UvA's psychologists (for students) or from the occupational health service (for staff) if you are having problems dealing with negative effects of the undesirable behaviour you experienced.

You can submit a formal complaint to the Uva's Complaints Committee. A confidential adviser can advise you on the complaints regulations and complaints procedure. They can help you formulate your complaint and support you during the procedure.

You can contact a confidential adviser by phone or email, but preferably by phone. They will then contact you as soon as possible. Keep your message as short as possible, and only share your report with people you trust.