Harassment & Equality
Harassment & Equality in Pörssi
Equality in Pörssi ry
Equality is the right and duty of every member of Pörssi.
Pörssi ry is obliged to promote equality in its operations, therefore the promotion of equality is part of Pörssi ry’s strategy 2023 along the Pörssi spirit, as well as the action plan of Pörssi’s board. Pörssi ry’s updated equalization plan was updated in 2022 and can be found below.
Pörssi ry wants to guarantee everyone as safe a space as possible for studying and belonging to the community. We strive to guarantee this for everyone with an equality plan.
Equality plan
The purpose of the equality plan is to promote Pörssi ry’s equality work and to secure equal treatment to all members of Pörssi and prevent discrimination.
The plan presents forms of harassment and sanctions in situations that violate equality, as well as clear plans to prevent these challenges and the role of the subject association in equality matters.
The plan presents the equality representatives and the equality committee and clarifies the job description of these actors. The equality plan presents Pörssi ry’s principles of a safer space as well as event guidelines and a rescue plan for harassment situations to promote equality also at events.
You can find the equality plan here. (In Finnish)
The Equality Representatives
There are four equality representatives at Pörssi ry, from whom students receive support when they encounter harassment or other inappropriate treatment. Anyone who has been experienced harassment, bullying, discrimination, racism or other unequal treatment can contact the equality representatives and ask for advice and help to resolve the issue. The equality representatives do not act as judges in situations, but help in handling the situation, give the opportunity for a safe space and support the person concerned in the process. All conversations are always confidential and will not be shared with anybody. In addition, the equality representatives will not take any actions without your permission.
The presence of equality representatives will bring a sense of security to Pörssi ry’s members and also help Pörssi’s event organizers to develop even more equal events. By this, we make Pörssi’s members feel more welcome and comfortable participating. In addition, the equality representatives also act as improvers of equality and monitor the realization of equality in Pörssi ry’s operations.
The equality representatives can be reached primarily by e-mail at any time, but also at events or face-to-face or via Telegram. Equality representatives have two different e-mails, from which you can choose which one to send your message to. If the notifier has not clearly stated in their message that they only need representatives of one gender the situation will be considered by the equality committee.
Contact information for the Pörssi ry’s equality representatives:
Janette Back
+358 50 378 4328
Aino Honkonen
+358 50 378 4328
Lauri Heinaro
+358 50 378 4328
Viivi Kosonen
+358 50 378 4328
The Equality Committee
The equality committee gathers together whenever a situation of harassment / equality violation has arisen from a notification or observations by a member of Pörssi ry. The Equality Commission only takes measures when the person who has experienced harassment accepts this. The equality committee consists of the chairperson of Pörssi ry, the equality representatives and the vice-chairman.
How to act in a harassment situation?
1. If you notice or are told that someone has experienced harassment or inappropriate treatment at an event, take the situation seriously and try to resolve the situation as soon as possible. Quick action shows that our organization has zero tolerance for any kind of harassment.
2. Ask the victim of the harassment if they are okay and how they felt about the situation you witnessed.
3. Express clearly and firmly, but politely and without provoking, to the person behaving inappropriately that their behavior is unacceptable and ask them to stop.
4. State that you do not approve of such behavior. It may also be that they do not realize that they are acting offensively.
5. If the harassment situation is still ongoing or you yourself witnessed the situation, the most important thing is to stop the bad behavior and get the victim to safety.
6. Write down the place and time, when the situation happened, who was involved in the situation, and what was said. This facilitates possible further processing.
7. Always act with the victim’s wishes in mind. Encourage them to take the matter forward and contact the equality representatives, but do not force them to take any measures.
8. Even if the situation is resolved, bring the matter to the attention of the equality representatives or another Pörssi’s event organizer. If you don’t dare to intervene in the situation yourself, you can approach or ask help from board members of Pörssi or from any other functionality (e.g. tutors, allstar or club members). Please report anonymously, unless you have the victim’s permission to reveal their name.
9. In the worst case, call the emergency center (phone: 112) directly.
In the end, the most important thing in every situation is just to be present and ready to talk and listen. Please also remember that you can always contact the equality representatives or any member of the board of Pörssi ry if you need help or want to discuss matters related to harassment situations.
Who else can help?
Harassment contact persons of the University of Jyväskylä student union: In addition to the equality representatives of the Pörssi ry, it is possible to contact JYY’s harassment contact persons. JYY has three harassment contact persons who offer support to students who have encountered harassment, bullying, racism, discrimination or other inappropriate treatment. Conversations with contact persons are strictly confidential, and no measures of any kind are taken without the permission of the person who has experienced inappropriate treatment. JYY’s harassment contact persons have appropriate training to investigate harassment situations.
- Karri Kekkonen karri.kekkonen@jyy.fi +358 50 338 7655
- Saara Silvennoinen saara.silvennoinen@jyy.fi +358 50 338 7655
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Petro Pitkänen petro.pitkanen@jyy.fi +358 50 430 6747
- General: messages sent to this hairinta@jyy.fi email will be forwarded to all JYY’s harassment contact persons.
MIELI ry’s Crisis Hotline, which is on call 24/7: If a victim who has experienced harassment is upset or needs urgent conversational help that you are unable to provide yourself, you can urge them to contact MIELI ry’s Crisis Hotline. The crisis line is on duty 24 hours a day, every day. Calls are confidential and anonymous.
- MIELI ry’s Crisis Hotline: 09 2525 0111
Students of Color Jyväskylä: a student community in Jyväskylä focused on anti-racism and the empowerment of POC students. Contacts: @socojyvaskyla in Instagram.
Help from the authorities:
- Acute life-threatening situation or situation requiring help from the authorities: Call the emergency number: 112
- Impaired physical or mental health: Apply to the nearest emergency room.
- Acute crisis help in a traumatic crisis situation (i.e. a sudden or surprising event that could not have been prepared for, e.g. becoming a victim of violence or crime, attempted suicide by a loved one): Central Finland Social and Crisis Emergency 014 266 0149
Equality means that everybody has the same worth regardless of their sex, age, ethnical or national heritage, nationality, language, religion, opinion, disabilities, health status, sexual orientation, or other personal related reasons. – Guide to Equality in youth and sports organizations