About project
“Mind your words” - campaign for the promotion of dialogue and against hate speech.
The aim of the “Mind your words” social campaign is to emphasize that there is no place for hate and hate speech at the UW, and that any person who has experienced or witnessed them will find support at the university. The campaign is one of the university’s efforts to promote equal treatment and academic values such as mutual respect and ethics of speech.
Hate and hate speech are not suspended in a void. More often than not, they are the result of stereotypical perceptions of reality, prejudice, frustration, communicative incompetence and a dysfunctional way of dealing with emotions. The university is our common space and we are all responsible for good dialogue and safe communication. We strive to treat every member of our community with respect, no matter who they are, regardless of nationality, gender, disability, age or sexual orientation.
The University is actively working to promote dialogue and equal treatment. In 2024, a new ordinance went into effect, which comprehensively regulates against behavior that is unacceptable at UW, including discrimination, sexual harassment, unequal treatment, bullying and other undesirable behavior.
Here are institutions at the University of Warsaw whose task is to work towards building a safe environment at the university based on safe communication and mutual respect. These are the Academic Ombudsman, the Coordinators for Counteracting Unequal Treatment, Discrimination, Bullying and Other Undesirable Behavior, Faculty Equality Plenipotentiaries and Plenipotentiaries, the Student Ombudsman. There are also two Rector’s Commissions at the university: for unequal treatment and discrimination, and for bullying and other undesirable behavior. A helpline offering free support to UW students, doctoral students and employees was also launched in 2024 at the Psychological Assistance Center.
One of the elements undertaken by the UW to counter hate speech is the “Mind your words” campaign, aimed at the entire academic community. Its goal is to show the causes and consequences of hate speech – the pain, suffering and mental degradation of the person experiencing hate speech. By raising awareness that hate speech affects mental health and can affect anyone, we want to draw attention to the ethics of speech, show the importance of constructive communication in academic debate, and encourage people to counter violations by pointing to appropriate support institutions and response paths.
The campaign includes a series of posters and activities on the university’s social media profiles. Materials will also appear on the units’ websites and fanpages. Also part of the campaign is a promotional video featuring protagonists – people representing various communities potentially exposed to hejt and hate speech, as well as a series of videos featuring UW experts on effective counteraction to hate speech. A landing page www.uwazajmynaslowa.uw.edu.pl is dedicated to the campaign, containing comprehensive information on countering hate speech at the UW.
The project is coordinated by the Office of the Academic Ombudsman for Student and Employee Affairs. The campaign is supervised by Academic Ombudsman Dr. Anna Cybulko. Partners of the project are: Center for Psychological Assistance, Equality Team – Chief Equality Officer and Chief Equality Research and Education Officer, Press Office, Student Ombudsman.
The campaign “Mind your words” is in line with the recommendations of the HR Excellence in Research strategy to implement activities in the area of equal treatment and to increase knowledge and awareness in the field of anti-discrimination.
