Dignity and Respect: Supports and Reporting Procedures
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The School of Medicine embraces an ethos of social responsibility, accountability and community involvement. At the heart of this ethos, it is crucial that all our staff and students feel safe and respected throughout their work and study in the School.
In line with the University’s Dignity and Respect Policy, the School is committed to supporting a collegiate environment for its staff, students and other community members, which is free from discrimination on any of the nine equality grounds (gender, religion, age, civil status, family status, disability, sexual orientation, race or ethnicity, membership of the Traveller community), bullying, sexual harassment and other forms of harassment.
If you would like more information about the University’s Dignity and Respect Policy and its Sexual Misconduct Policy, please see the TCD Dignity, Respect and Consent Service webpage here.
Definitions of bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct:
Bullying is defined as repeated inappropriate behaviour, direct or indirect, whether verbal, physical or otherwise, conducted by one or more persons against another or others, at the place of work/study and/or in the course of employment/study which could reasonably be regarded as undermining an individual’s right to dignity and the place of work/study. An isolated incident of the behaviour described in this definition may be an affront to dignity at work but, as a once off incident, is not considered to be bullying.
Harassment is defined as any form of unwanted conduct related to any of the discriminatory grounds under the Employment Equality Acts which has the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity and creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. Harassment can be a one-off incident.
Sexual misconduct covers a broad range of inappropriate and unwanted behaviours of a sexual nature including sexual harassment and sexual violence. Sexual misconduct can be committed by a person of any gender and it can occur between people of the same or different genders. It may occur between strangers or acquaintances, including people involved, or formerly involved, in an intimate or sexual relationship.
What to do if you experience, or are unsure if you have experienced, bullying, harassment or sexual misconduct:
The Dignity and Respect and Sexual Misconduct Policies outline a framework for addressing and seeking a resolution to breaches of these policies, should they arise. More information about how to seek advice or raise concerns about such behaviours are available from the Dignity, Respect & Consent (DR&C) service website here.
Options for seeking a resolution include informal and formal approaches.
Informal approaches
Informal options refer to the options available to attempt to resolve an issue without instigating the formal investigation procedure. Examples of informal resolutions include:
- Informal conversations with the other party/parties involved
- Informal conversation involving a Manager
- Here, you would report your concerns, in confidence, to your manager, who may be a Head of Department, supervisor or line manager. They may then attempt to informally resolve the issue through one-to-one or group conversations with the other party/parties involved.
- Facilitated conversations
- In this case, a third party, such as a manager, may help to seek a resolution by facilitating a discussion about the issue between you and the other involved party/parties.
- Mediation
- This case is typically reserved for where some of the aforementioned informal options have been attempted and have not produced a satisfactory resolution. In this case, a professionally qualified mediator, who is not a member of staff, is employed to guide a conversation between the parties involved to attempt to aid them in finding a satisfactory and suitable resolution to the issue.
Formal investigation:
If informal interventions have not led to a resolution to the issue, or are not suitable to address the issue at hand, then a formal complaint of bullying, harassment and/or sexual misconduct may be submitted. This is submitted to the TCD Dignity, Respect & Consent Service. You are advised to contact a DR&C Support Advisor to seek support and guidance prior to submitting a complaint. The Advisor can meet with you briefly to provide guidance and support about the issues you seek to resolve. You can meet with an Advisor even if you have not yet sought informal resolutions, if you do not currently wish to raise a formal complaint or you are unsure whether the issues you are facing fall under the Dignity and Respect and/or Sexual Misconduct policies.
Further information on contacting a DR&C Advisor, including an appointment booking form, can be found here.
If a completed Complaint Form is submitted to the DR&C, it will first undergo screening by the DR&C Screening Panel, who meet approximately every 2-3 weeks. If the Panel determines that the complaint(s) raised potentially meet the definition of bullying, harassment or sexual misconduct, outlined in the Dignity and Respect and/or Sexual Misconduct policies, the complaint can then go forward to an investigation. Further information on the screening and investigation process can be found here.
Anonymous reporting
Speak Out provides the opportunity for you to make the University aware of incidents that you have either experienced or witnessed by reporting them anonymously. Reporting your experience via the Speak Out webpage does not involve naming the person(s) involved, and will not lead to an investigation against them. However, by collecting information about incidents of bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct, the University will use this information to inform the development and delivery of activities aimed at raising awareness about Trinity's Dignity and Respect Policy and Sexual Misconduct Policy, and other initiatives like the Trinity Action Plan in support of eliminating bullying, harassment, and sexual misconduct. This reporting can be undertaken in addition to/independently of any other informal or formal approaches to resolve the issue(s) you are facing. For more information, go to the Speak Out webpage here.
Where does this information apply to?
The Dignity and Respect and Sexual Misconduct policies apply to those working/studying across the School of Medicine campuses, including University and Hospital locations. The information outlined here pertains to incidents which occur across any of these campuses, or online or in other settings once the incident(s) occurs as part of work/study in the University or at events where a person is representing the University or at any University-connected activity.
Who does this information apply to?
The Dignity and Respect and Sexual Misconduct policies apply to all staff and students, consultants, all those (including retired staff) who engage with the University or its associated bodies in any capacity, guest lecturers, alumni, any person providing occasional/temporary/sessional work to Trinity College Dublin, members and employees of Trinity College Clubs and Societies, contractors and subcontractors and vendors and suppliers of the college. Any such individual can raise a complaint or seek assistance from the TCD Dignity, Respect and Consent service.
If the issue pertains to an individual who is not a registered staff member or student at TCD then a complaint may need to be raised under alternative policies (such as the policy of the hospital where they are employed). In this case, the Dignity, Respect and Consent service can still support any member of the School of Medicine by providing guidance on the process, including assisting in determining the correct policies and procedures involved in seeking a resolution. More information on this process can be sought by emailing drc@tcd.ie.
Support
A list of internal and external support services for staff and students is available here, including emergency supports, supports for mental health, guidance and resources for reporting of bullying and harassment and more.
Undergraduate and postgraduate students may also seek support from Simone Cameron-Coen (email: Simone.Cameron-Coen@tcd.ie), Student Welfare Officer for the School of Medicine.
Mental health supports
Note that all staff are entitled to 6 free counselling sessions per year, in addition to other supports, as part of the Employee Access Programme. More information can be found here.
All students can avail of private, one-to-one counselling, as well as group and online support, via the Student Counselling Service (SCS). More information can be found here. In case of urgent issues, emergency appointments are available every week day (more information available here).
Resources for managers, tutors and others for addressing inappropriate behaviour
Active Bystander training
It is important that managers have the knowledge and tools to recognise inappropriate behaviours by other staff or students, and to intervene safely and appropriately. Active Bystander training empowers members of the School to address and prevent harassment and discrimination. It equips staff and students with the right knowledge, tools and motivation to intervene safely and stop inappropriate behaviour before it escalates.
The School of Medicine is currently working to organise Active Bystander training events in 2025-2026. If you are interested in attending, please email Dr Roisin McMackin (mcmackro@tcd.ie) to register your interest and be alerted to upcoming training opportunities. Additionally, if you would be interested in attending a “Train the Trainer” session, to become equipped to deliver Active Bystander training, please register your interest by emailing Dr McMackin.
Dignity, Respect and Consent training
The TCD DR&C service are finalising their online training modules for staff and students, which will be available early in the 2025-2026 academic year. Check back here for more information, which will be posted once available.
ULEAD4ALL
The success of EDI efforts - and the wellbeing and progression of diverse staff and students - depends heavily on committed, inclusive leadership. Change must be championed from the top, with leaders actively engaging in self-development and fostering more democratic and equitable management practices. ULEAD4ALL, a new Erasmus + initiative, addresses these leadership challenges in a series of workshops aimed at both current HEI leaders and aspiring leaders within HEIs. ULEAD4ALL is brought to you by Trinity Innovation and Enterprise, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and HR Learning and Organisation Development. This pilot programme supports our Public Sector Duty commitments. The initiative is free for participants.
Modules under the “Current Leaders” track include: “Introduction to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion”, “Tackling Barriers and Providing Tools” and “Start the Change: Bridging the Gap – Leaders as Allies”.
Modules under the “Aspiring Leaders” track include: “Introduction to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion”, “Leadership in Empathy, Communication, and Leadership”, “EDI in Action and Reflection and “Applied in Team Building”.
For more information about how to register and dates for participation, see here.
Providing support for students
Where appropriate, tutors, student services and staff members can refer a student to the student counselling service and help the student make an appointment.