A safe environment is crucially important for the academic and social life of the community of the IIRPS VU, hence we condemn any sexual harassment in any form and we aim to ensure that every member of the community feels safe at the Institute.
If an event of sexual harassment transpires in the environment of IIRPS VU, we are to follow the values declared by the IIRPS VU and the Code of Academic Ethics of Vilnius University, and we are to immediately begin an investigation in the framework of the IIRPS VU Academic Ethics Commission.
According to the Republic of Lithuania Law on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men:
“Sexual harassment means any form of unwanted and insulting verbal, written or physical conduct of a sexual nature with a person, with the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a person, in particular when creating an intimidating, hostile, humiliating or offensive environment.”
According to the information provided by Vilnius University, attributes of sexual harassment are:
- Power disproportion between harasser and individual who is being harassed (i. e. lecturer – student; supervisor – subordinate, etc.);
- The behavior that violates dignity, is unwanted and insulting;
- Various unwanted actions in the following forms of sexual harassment: physical (touching, hugging, kissing), verbal (sexually suggestive remarks, jokes, insulting questions related to a private life), non-verbal (showing sexual photographs and videos, lustful staring, gestures), virtual (sending private or public messages with sexual content).
Reporting harassment or discrimination:
Were you to encounter any type of sexual harassment, please report this immediately. We understand that it may not be easy to report these kinds of situations, hence confidentiality and privacy will be ensured during the entire process. The details of the report can be disclosed only to those staff members who will be involved in the investigation if that is needed. If you encountered such a situation, please inform the Chair of the IIRPS VU Academic Ethics Commission Johanas Baltrimas (Johanas.baltrimas@tf.vu.lt).
In case of false accusations and information, an investigation will not be started.
At the Institute, we provide preventive educational meetings on sexual harassment or discrimination. We also support various students’ initiatives which are intended for talking about these questions. By doing this, we intend to encourage to contact us and report such situations, in addition, we aim to ensure that there are no such situations in our community. Please find more information on the prevention and help at Vilnius University here.
Eastern European and Russian studies
The Eastern European and Russian Studies at Vilnius University programme is devised to provide with deep and comprehensive knowledge about the region - its political, economic and cultural particularities, and develop your academic and analytical skills that will enable students to analyse, evaluate and assess key political and social processes within this dynamic and exciting region. "We give our Master students the freedom to explore and create their own personalized path of studies. They can decide to read classical philosophy or analyze the phenomenon of techno-bodies, focus on power and communication or get trained for international negotiations. This freedom goes hand in hand with hard work and responsibility. The result is more than just knowledge; it is students realizing their potential and implementing their ideas. We work in particularly small groups, so students can interact directly with leading researchers and practitioners. Intensive studies based on the analysis of real-life cases allow students to gain hands-on experience that can be put to use examining complex contemporary challenges and offering professional solutions." - deputy director for studies assoc. prof. dr. Lina Strupinskienė
ARQUS Joint Master’s Programme European Studies
The Joint Master’s programme in European studies provides the opportunity to find the best solutions through an interdisciplinary approach. This is a great opportunity to study Europe with lecturers from the four forefront European universities (University of Granada, University of Graz, Leipzig University and Vilnius University), and develop soft skills that will flourish in your future career.
