University professor in Göttingen: Court shortens salary due to harassment!

University professor in Göttingen: Court shortens salary due to harassment!

Göttingen, Deutschland - In the past few weeks, the case of a university professor has caused a lot of sensation when it became known that he had sexually harassed several women for years. As Spiegel.de the professor was convicted by a court that has now significantly reduced his salary. A circumstance that causes both the university community as well as far beyond opinions.

The details of this case are shocking. The nuisance extended over several years, with the women concerned often not being able to submit any complaints from a dependency relationship with the professor. Another aspect that penetrated the public is the university's weak approach to such assault, which has heavily burdened the victims.

universities and dealing with misconduct

This incident is not unique. Similar problems are also shown at other universities, such as the example of the University of Basel, where between 2018 and 2019 two professors got in the headlines due to sexual harassment of students. In these cases, the women concerned submitted complaints that led to the warning of the professors, but remained without criminal consequences, since sexual harassment is considered a crime of application. The professors still work at the university, which ensures shaking heads and raises the question of how serious it is to protect the students. Here, too, it can be seen that there was long silence among the women concerned, often out of fear of repression or the loss of their academic career.

A left -wing autonomist group from Basel, the revolutionary anti -patriarchal Bündnis Basel (RAB), has publicly outed the professors as part of its protests against these nuisance. However, the campaign led to the immediate removal of the posters by the university, which also examines legal steps for property damage. Critics argue that this is an example of the alleged protection of perpetrators and loudly demand a rethink in the universities.

Health of victims and social responsibility

Some of the affected students, like a woman named Petra F. (name changed), were forced to cancel their doctorate due to the trauma suffered. This throws a light on the adverse effects of abuse of power within academic structures. Universities urgently need to take measures in order to offer a safe environment and to clearly address grievances.

The discussion about sexual harassment among university teachers is more pressing than ever. The incidents in Göttingen and Basel are just two examples in a variety of cases that indicate a systematic grievance. The universities are required to finally become active and to draw clear consequences for inappropriate behavior in order to enable a real chance of change.

Will the academic landscape change in the future? The pressure on the universities is growing and it remains to be seen how they will react to the legitimate claims of activists and affected women. The influence of this problem extends far beyond the academic walls and creates a space for necessary social debates.