Microaggressions are never okay.
Repeated microaggressions can amount to unlawful harassment, bullying or discrimination but even one-off microaggressions can negatively impact the health and wellbeing of the person experiencing them.
It might be useful to think about what is meant by microaggressions (link to definition and examples page) and how these behaviours are described before deciding what to do.
Think
- Are you in immediate danger? If you are in immediate danger or seriously injured, you can contact the emergency services on 999 (or 112 from a mobile phone).
- Take time to write down, somewhere private to you, what happened, how you felt and the details. It can be hard to remember incident details later down the line if you ever want to recall them.
Support
- Talking things through with someone you trust can sometimes help. This could be a friend, partner, family member, colleague or line manager.
- Explore the support the Open University offers.
- Further support can be found outside of the University
Report
- Report and Support. Students and staff are encouraged to report an incident using the University’s Report and Support system. You can choose to do this anonymously, or you can report with contact details. The University can only act on reports where contact details are provided. Choosing to report anonymously means The Open University won’t be able to contact you to offer any advice or support, but it will allow us to monitor and analyse trends.
- University Procedure. If you choose to make a formal complaint to the University about a student or member of staff, there are procedures that set out the steps you will need to note.Please follow the Dignity and Respect Policy if you are a student and the Bullying and Harassment Policy if you are a member of staff..
Mental Health and Wellbeing
- Find out more on support available for students for mental health and wellbeing
- Find out more on support available for staff for mental health and wellbeing