Combating sexual and gender-based violence

It is up to you to choose whether you communicate the incident to professionals based outside of Sciences Po or on your campus. In both cases, the interaction will be confidential and Sciences Po’s senior management team will only be informed if you so wish.

Access the external listening and support service run by France Victimes:

• either by calling the hotline reserved for members of Sciences Po, which is open every day from 9am to 9pm: +33 (0)1 80 52 33 83
• or by sending an email to help.vss@sciencespo.fr

An initial consultation is offered over the phone with a trained professional in either French or English, depending on your needs. If you wish, you may request to be referred to the France Victimes branch near your campus. You will then be able to meet in person with legal specialists, psychologists and social workers, who will help you to classify the incident you experienced and provide support according to your needs.

List of local France Victimes branches near the different campuses (PDF, 503 ko).

Contact the SGBV Specialist Nurses based on each campus:

• infirmiere.dijon@sciencespo.fr
• infirmiere.lehavre@sciencespo.fr
• infirmier.menton@sciencespo.fr
• infirmiere.nancy@sciencespo.fr
• infirmiere.paris@sciencespo.fr
• infirmier.poitiers@sciencespo.fr
• infirmiere.reims@sciencespo.fr

With your consent, any of these people can submit a report to Sciences Po’s SGBV Officer. If you instead choose to communicate the incident to a colleague, be aware that the person will be under an obligation to submit a report.

Have a query about the support mechanism? Read the full information page.

Full guidance is set out in the document "Procedure to follow in the event of a report of sexual or gender-based violence" (PDF, 82 Ko).

Reporting the incident

Should you agree to lift confidentiality, France Victimes and the SGBV Specialist Nurses will submit a report that will be received by Sciences Po’s SGBV Officer.

If you would like to submit a report yourself, you can fill out the report form.

The preliminary internal investigation

Unless the survivor explicitly requests otherwise, every report systematically triggers an internal investigation conducted by a dedicated unit, the Preliminary Internal Investigation Unit (CEIP), chaired by an independent magistrate. The CEIP is an independent body whose role is to determine the plausibility of the allegations, in adherence to the principles of the presumption of innocence and Audi alteram partem (the right to a fair hearing).

On the basis of the facts, information and any documents supporting the allegations, the CEIP writes up a report stipulating whether or not the matter should be referred to the relevant disciplinary body. Its recommendations are submitted to the president of Sciences Po within two months of the initial report.

Provision of support measures

Sciences Po’s SGBV Officer will contact you following your report and support you throughout the internal investigation and the disciplinary procedure.

The disciplinary procedure

The president of Sciences Po may refer the matter to the relevant disciplinary body:

• The disciplinary body for “faculty” for temporary faculty members and staff assigned to the IEP de Paris (MESR)
• The relevant disciplinary body at host institutions for staff made available to the IEP de Paris (CNRS)
• The Human Resources Department (French labour law procedure) for permanent faculty members

The disciplinary sanctions for faculty members range from an official warning to dismissal.

Find out more about the disciplinary procedure and sanctions.

Possibility of referral to the judicial authorities

Exceptionally, if the victim has not already reported the incident to the police, the president of Sciences Po may refer the case to the public prosecutor’s office in the event of a suspected crime or misdemeanour (see Article 40 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure (Fr)).