The Cyprus Academy of Public Administration, as a coordinating partner of the project entitled Active Strategies for prevention and handling of sexual harassment incidents (acronym ASTRAPI), which is part of ERASMUS+, is organizing a Workshop on 27 June 2022, entitled "Tackling sexual harassment - The ASTRAPI experience". The aim of the project is to prevent, combat and manage incidents of sexual harassment in the public and semi-public sector, through the development of an integrated intervention strategy and training programme that effectively addresses the issues related to this topic. This is an important project, whose actions fall within the legislative framework of Cyprus (Law 205(I)/ 2002, Article 12, on Equal Treatment in Employment and Vocational Education), the harmonization with the provisions of the Istanbul Convention and the broader framework for the development of equality policies (Gender Equality Plan) in line with the European Commission's strategy for equality.
The aim of the workshop is through the presentation of the deliverables of the ASTRAPI project to give impetus to the top management level of the public service to seek to create a working environment free of sexual harassment, using the innovative strategies, training methodologies and tools produced by the project. Individuals from public service bodies involved in issues related to sexual harassment and contributing to policy development, as well as members of trade unions and non-governmental organisations were invited to the workshop, as there is a need to bring together all those involved in human resources issues to combat the phenomenon.
The President of the Parliament Mrs. Anita Demetriou, the Director of the Department of Public Administration and Personnel Mrs. Elena Economidou Azina will address the conference, the Commissioner for Administration and Human Rights Protection, Ms Maria Stylianou Lottidi and the Commissioner for Legislation and Chairperson of the Committee for Gender Equality in Employment and Vocational Training (EIF), Ms Louisa Zannetou Christodoulides. The project partners will then present their deliverables.
In particular, the Guide developed for the effective implementation of policy and tools for the prevention and management of sexual harassment in the workplace will be presented. The Guide can be used as a comprehensive intervention strategy to prevent inappropriate sexual behaviour in any workplace, establish appropriate and confidential reporting mechanisms, encourage complaints, address such incidents and provide support to victims (drawing on best practices from partner countries).
Next, the key modules of the training material developed to train individuals from the participating organisations will be presented. The material can also be used for training purposes through the platform prepared by the European University within the project. At this point, the e-learning platform developed specifically for the trainings will also be presented, offering the possibility of asynchronous learning for the participants, and the acquisition of valuable knowledge on specific topics covered by the Guide developed specifically for the project (deliverable 1).
Subsequently, the risk assessment tool for the occurrence and frequency of sexual harassment incidents will be presented. This tool measures factors that can determine the frequency and intensity levels of sexual harassment in the workplace. It is based on the behavioural construct of sexual harassment, which consists of three related but conceptually distinct dimensions: gender harassment, unwanted sexual attention and sexual coercion
Finally, a scientific policy paper will be presented. The key issue addressed in the proposed scientific paper is the essential role that appropriate and targeted staff training plays in achieving quality learning outcomes, particularly when dealing with a very sensitive issue such as sexual harassment from prevention through to risk assessment and response to incidents that occur. The scientific paper reviews the experience of project partners in 5 different countries (Cyprus, Denmark, Spain, Greece, Greece and Bulgaria) and makes recommendations for policy change based on this experience.
The workshop will take place on 27 June 2022, at the European University Cyprus' Amphitheatre B, 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. and will be held in English. A detailed programme of the Workshop is attached
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