Balansemerket

To reduce the chance of sexual harassment or discrimination occurring, it is important to know where, when and how it can happen. That process involves mapping the risk factors involved.

• What are the potential risks in our enterprise?

• What actions can we take to prevent it?

• If an incident does occur, how can we minimise its impact and address it effectively?

Balansekunst offer a form to map the risks.

Some people think crude jokes are funny, while others don’t. What people perceive as okay varies greatly. To ensure that everyone thrives at work, it is important to discuss and establish a set of common guidelines.

The purpose of the rules is to protect everyone in the enterprise against harassment.

The guidelines are not intended to regulate how good colleagues behave around each other, as long as it is mutual and it does not negatively affect others in the working environment.

Guidelines impact attitudes. They give security to vulnerable groups by communicating a clear position from the management. Guidelines can also act as a useful reminder to everyone to reflect on risks, power relations, boundaries and roles.

If you have clear guidelines in place, employees will to a greater extent know what is okay and what is not. Clear guidelines are important for handling a case if something should happen. Guidelines make employees accountable and create an orderly framework for handling cases.

Once rules are adopted, they should be made known to all employees, both permanent and temporary, and others associated with the enterprise.

The guidelines can be highlighted on the enterprise’s website, and as appendices to employment and assignment contracts.

Examples of guidelines

• We are familiar with what constitutes sexual harassment and discrimination, and avoid crossing other people’s boundaries or offending others.

• We are aware of our own privileges and reflect on our own biases and societal norms

• We are conscious of roles, power relations and boundaries when working with others

• We are aware of how jokes, humour and compliments can be perceived differently, and are cautious about using nicknames and commenting on other people’s appearance.

• Group-based insults are not tolerated in our workplaces.

• We avoid attributing characteristics to others based on their gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, functional ability, skin colour, cultural and religious affiliation

• We are mindful about alcohol consumption in work-related settings

Reporting an issue may seem like a serious matter. The goal is to create a good culture for feedback and to lower the threshold for talking about unpleasant situations – so that working conditions can be improved.

Both the Working Environment Act and the preparatory works to the Equality and Anti-Discrimination Act require or encourage enterprises to have guidelines and reporting procedures.

Everyone in the enterprise should always be able to speak up when they experience unwanted sexual attention, abusive or unpleasant behaviour, whether it comes from a customer, guest, user, colleague or manager. Reporting such incidents should feel safe and must not have any negative consequences for the person reporting.

• Information about guidelines and channels and procedures for reporting must be communicated to everyone in the enterprise – permanent employees, temporary employees, freelancers, volunteers and self-employed persons.

• Channels for feedback and reporting should be highlighted on the website, and information can be provided at joint meetings, start-up meetings or the like.

• Employment and assignment contracts can also include a clause on reporting channels, protection against sexual harassment and discrimination and responsibility for creating a good working environment.

• Several persons should be listed as contacts for reporting. Anyone in a position of responsibility in the enterprise should be extra knowledgeable about procedures for feedback and be open to receiving reports.

• Most people find it difficult to report. It is often the case that the person exposed to abuse of power must speak out against the power. Is is important to reflect upon power relations and work to build trust.

Balansekunst has created a template for guidelines and reporting procedures, together with the law firm Graasvold & Stenvaag and the Equality and Anti-discrimination Ombud. Everyone is welcome to cut and paste from the template.

Template for guidelines and reporting procedures

Main points about handling:

• Communicate clearly that anyone who experiences something unwanted, big or small, can report this. You can also report matters that concern others.

• Dialogue is an important keyword.

• All notifications are treated confidentially.

• If the case involves a particularly serious incidents that are a breach of the Criminal Code, the case must be reported to the police, and then the employer must not start a separate process.

• Talk to both/all parties separately. Also talk to any witnesses. A possible joint meeting should only take place at the request of the person making the notification. All parties are allowed to bring a support person with them to meetings, if desired.

• The accused party has the right to reply, and the employer must take care of both/all parties.

• Ensure a quick process where the parties are well informed about the plan for progress in the case.

• Take notes of all meetings and conversations.

• The manager makes an assessment of the case and gives a suitable reaction, and both or all of the parties involved are informed. Possible sanctions are:
  A talk, a stern talk, a clear or written warning, redeployment, removal of responsibility, end of cooperation, dismissal (must be in line with the Working Environment Act § 15)

• Both/all parties in the case must receive information about the conclusion of the case, and the goal is reconciliation and the restoration of a proper working environment.

• Seek advice from Balansekunst's advice lineor the Equality and Discrimination Ombudsman. If you are a member of a trade union, you can also seek support from there.

A diverse staff in all parts and levels of an organisation can contribute to diversity and different perspectives becoming a natural part of its activities. Because different people can contribute with different perspectives and knowledge, there should be diversity in all spaces where there is power and where important decisions are to be made. Minority persons in key positions can open doors for more, and counteract barriers in the sector.

Diversity is good for innovation. When people with different backgrounds and different networks collaborate on events, casting, programming and audience development, you will be able to reach a wider audience.

Set goals

There is much talk about the importance of mirroring society.

• Almost one in five Norwegians are multicultural

• Almost one in five Norwegians have a functional impairment

• Up to 10 % are LGBT+

• Norway is home to national minorities and indigenous people, people of different religions, people of all genders and ages

Is this reflected in your workplace? In the enterprise’s communication and use of photos? Among the prize winners? In boards and management?

If minority persons are underrepresented in staff, boards and programmes, we recommend setting specific goals to promote more diversity.

Are there few women and minorities within the field or genre you work with? Then it may not be a reasonable goal to achieve good representation and 50/50 gender balance overnight. However, make an effort to find new talent and book more diverse acts. This is how you help create a change over time.

Diversity-conscious recruitment

To create more diversity in the cultural field, it is important to identify the barriers that cause certain groups to be underrepresented. When recruiting new employees, steps should be taken to overcome such barriers. One such step is to announce all job vacancies and use the enterprise’s network strategically to reach a wider audience.

Another important step is to be aware of how we are all unconsciously drawn towards people who resemble ourselves. By being mindful of our own biases, we can counteract these more effectively. Altso, reflect on how you consciously or unconsciously define competence and quality. Are you looking for people who fit in, or are you looking for someone who can add something different? A more diverse staff provides a more complex set of experiences, perspectives and networks that are valuable to a workplace.

We’ve put together a list of tips for diversity-conscious recruitment, booking and jury work.

The employer is obliged to make arrangements and accommodations for all employees. Therefore, you should have good routines for work accommodations.

Accommodations can be about making the environment accessible to people with various disabilities. It can also be about making arrangements for different religious customs, different food cultures, arranging toilets and changing rooms for trans people or making arrangements for combining work and the role of parent or relative. The common denominator for all work accommodations is to take into account that people are different and to meet people with openness and flexibility.

Remember that it can be difficult for employees to ask about accommodation, and work to lower the threshold.

Ask what the employee needs

• at onboarding

• in employee

• during pregnancy, parental leave and when returning after parental leave

• in case of sick leave and return after sick leave

Feel free to give examples of how the workplace can accommodate. This makes it easier for employees to talk about what they need.

You can state that you offer, for example:

• A work culture where you value the right to time off, and do not expect work in the evenings and at weekends

• A work culture where you take into account that both physical and mental health vary

• An open dialogue about work pace, processes and tasks, and how different people work well

• Time off for health services and rehabilitation

• Flexible working hours

• Home office

• Limiting work trips if necessary

• Time off for different religious holidays

Think about:

• Are the premises accessible to people with reduced mobility, the visually impaired and the hearing impaired? Balansekunst has created a checklist for accessibility in the workplace.

• Are toilets and changing rooms accessible to all genders? Do the toilets have to be gender-segregated?

There is no quick fix to counteract sexual harassment and discrimination. This requires ongoing efforts to raise awareness.

Conversations are an important measure. In order for practical measures such as reporting procedures to work, there must be trust, so that the procedures are perceived as accessible and safe to use. It is important to create an environment where discrimination, exclusion, sexual harassment and unpleasant comments can be discussed openly, with a low threshold for raising these topics. Through open dialogue, misunderstandings can be prevented, and everyone can gain a better understanding of their roles, reducing the risk of unpleasant situations.

Diversity alone does not guarantee inclusion. A group of people with different experiences and identities working together, does not necessarily mean that the environment is inclusive. If the environment is characterised by, for example, homophobic jokes, it will not feel safe and welcoming for queer people. Creating space for conversations, increased knowledge and awareness-raising measures is crucial to ensure that everyone feels included.

Conversation cards

Communication is an important measure to prevent harassment and discrimination and to promote equality in the cultural arena. But how should such conversations take place?

We have developed digital conversation cards that can be used to facilitate conversations about these issues.

The cards include questions relating to topics such as stereotypes, norms, master suppression techniques (hersketeknikker), prejudices, racism, homophobia, transphobia, barriers for people with disabilities, and more.

You can adjust the digital deck and select the themes and questions most relevant for your group.

Balansekunst's digital conversation cards