Harassment contact persons | HYY
Harassment contact persons
HYY actively works to ensure that there is no discrimination, harassment, racism or other inappropriate treatment in the Student Union. HYY must be a safe space for everyone. Read more about our harassment contact persons and do not hesitate to contact them if you experience or witness inappropriate behaviour.
Help and support for harassment situations
The Student Union has two harassment contact persons who support students who have encountered harassment, bullying, discrimination or any other kind of inappropriate treatment. Any contacts with the harassment contact persons are entirely confidential, and the persons work under obligation of secrecy.
Harassment contact persons do not act as judges in any situation nor do they hand out punishments but rather offer help and advice on how to address the situation and support you in the process. The harassment contact persons can also direct you to other services if needed.
Harassment contact persons also offer advice to organisations which operate under HYY. If the organisation does not have harassment contact persons of their own, they can inform their members about HYY’s harassment contact persons. It is also a good idea to always deal with more difficult cases together with them.
Contact our harassment contact persons
If you experience or witness harassment, do not hesitate to contact our harassment contact persons. They will look for a solution that suits your situation. If you prefer, the matter will remain between you and the harassment contact persons. Any contacts with the harassment contact persons are entirely confidential.
You can reach both harassment contact persons by email at hairintayhdyshenkilo@hyy.fi
Tiia Niemi, tiia.niemi@hyy.fi, 050 543 9608,
Topias Tolonen, topias.tolonen@hyy.fi, 050 477 4543
If the person harassing you is a staff member at the University, you can also contact the University’s harassment contact persons:
Timo Valtonen, timo.valtonen@helsinki.fi
Terhi Somerkallio, terhi.somerkallio@helsinki.fi
How to act in harassment situations?
- Tell the person harassing you that their behaviour is inappropriate. Tell them that you do not approve of their behaviour and ask them to stop.
- If the harassment continues, write down what happened and when, who were present and what was said. This makes processing the matter later easier.
- Tell someone about the inappropriate behaviour:
- If harassment occurs in connection with teaching by another student, contact the teacher responsible for the course or another member of staff.
- If the harasser is a member of staff, contact the head of their department or, in a faculty without departments, the vice-dean in charge of teaching or the University’s harassment contact persons.
- If harassment occurs in events, in organisational activities or on social media, contact – depending on the situation – the board of the organisation or HYY’s harassment contact persons.
- If you need discussion help, you can also contact the FSHS or other organisations which offer help. You can seek help from the party you feel is the most natural for yourself.
The equality and accessibility liaisons work as low threshold contact persons making it easier to bring up equality and accessibility issues.
City Centre Campus
- Anne Pääkkönen, education specialist (Open University)
Kumpula Campus
- Sini Karppinen, planning officer
Meilahti Campus
- Sanni Hyppönen, Human Resources Coordinator
- Kaija Salenius, HR specialist
- Tania Sawkins, HR-specialist
Viikki Campus
- Harri Hamara, HR specialist
- Heidi Kauppinen, HR specialist
Sometimes accessible studying requires special arrangements or equipment. Read more about special arrangements at the University of Helsinki.
The equality and accessibility liaisons work as low threshold contact persons making it easier to bring up equality and accessibility issues.
Accessibility liaisons at Student Services
- Marianne Järveläinen, Kruununhaka student service point, (Faculty of Social Sciences, soc&kom)
- Jukka Nieminen, Kumpula student service point (Faculty of Science) and Viikki student service point (Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Pharmacy and Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry)
- Johanna Joensuu, Meilahti student service point (Faculty of Medicine)
- Taru Kamke, Metsätalo student service point (Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Theology)
- Sanni Ruuskanen, Porthania student service point, (Faculty of Law, Language Centre, Open University)
- Venla Virtanen, Siltavuori student service point, (Faculty of Educational Sciences)
- Paula Hattunen, Teaching and Learning Cervices (City Centre Campus)
- Anne Pääkkönen, Open University; for more information, click here.
Helsinki University Library’s accessibility liaison
- Kristiina Lähdesmäki, Access Services
Read more about the harassment contact persons from the blog.
Get to know the University’s instructions.
Check out the equality guide for organisations on Moodle.
Further information on equality: equality.fi
You can also report discrimination to the non-discrimination ombudsman.