Ministry of National Education promotes some general regulations regarding cases of sexual harassment – 12.08.2024

Sexual harassment in education has become a hot topic this summer. The Ministry of Education supports the need to promote general regulations on sexual harassment cases that apply equally to public and private educational institutions, as well as to all public institutions, proposing, within the framework of these regulations, including the examination and treatment by institutions, respectively, of notifications submitted without assuming the identity of the complainant. According to the ministry, representatives of the institutions, together with representatives of the National Council of Rectors, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Labor and Social Solidarity, the Ministry of Interior and the National Agency for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, analyzed the legal framework applicable to the treatment of complaints regarding facts of sexual harassment/sexual aggression, as well as the required legislative changes, “must be general and applicable to all public entities.” As a result of the discussions, the need to promote a general regulation that will apply equally to public and private educational institutions, i.e. to the entire national education system, as well as to all public institutions, in a similar way to employment relations, as defined in the provisions of HG 970/2023 on the approval of the Methodology for the prevention and combating of harassment based on gender, as well as moral harassment in the workplace, states the communiqué. According to the Ministry of Education, the expected general regulation should primarily aim at prevention and inter-institutional cooperation, “in order to timely detect all acts/facts that may constitute a threat to the physical and mental freedom, the harmonious development of each person and all those involved in the educational process”. In addition, according to representatives of the ministry, “awareness and access to means of protection” against such behaviors are also a priority. At the same time, the ministry proposes to “consider and decide on a notification that does not contain the name, surname, contact details or signature of the petitioner, to the extent that it contains indications of conduct that is incompatible with the regulations, i.e. sexual harassment/aggression”, as well as “analysis of a notification formulated without a presumption of identity by a commission at the level of the institution/body, under the terms of Government Decision No. 970/2023, which will apply to all institutions/public bodies/public entities”. After the analysis, a report is drawn up in which the disciplinary inquiry commission is notified if there are elements related to the existence of a possible disciplinary violation, and the notification is sent to the investigative and investigative bodies if it contains information on acts of sexual aggression or sexual harassment, abuse of position for sexual purposes provided for in the Criminal Code.