The ‘Mobbing ASBL’, a non-profit against bullying, has been waiting for a legislative frame to tackle the issue for 20 years, said Mida at the beginning of the conversation. She therefore welcomed that the Chamber of Deputies finally passed a respective draft law in March this year, but lamented that victims still have to proof that they were being bullied.
The positive aspect of the law in her opinion is that employers now have to create a contact point for victims of bullying and that the Labour and Mines Inspectorate (ITM) has been awarded greater responsibility.
Overall the issue of bullying should be tackled differently, argued Mida while advocating for more means for her non-profit.
Mida stated that bullying has not only increased, but that it has also gained in visibility. However, since the pandemic, victims have started to flag instances of bullying early on, she noted, particularly when the issues are also covered by the media.
The non-profit bases its definition of bullying on the teachings of German psychologist Heinz Leymann, according to whom the following four criteria have to be taken into consideration: attacks need to be personal, occur repeatedly, have a systemic nature, and be targeted over an extended duration, the minimum being six months.
Although the organisation is the first point of contact for bullying victims in Luxembourg, they primarily focus on bullying in the workplace through personal consultations. Since last year, they have also begun offering psychological support due to the severity of some people’s traumas rendering them unable of retracing the full extent of the issue.
The non-profit further works on prevention by organising conferences and offering workplace training.
The director elaborated on how the organisation treats victims that seek out their help. They are usually asked to describe what happened to them, ideally providing evidence for their accounts. Their stories are then analysed to determine which type of support is most appropriate.
Sometimes it turns out that an issue can be regarded as a conflict rather than an instance of bullying, which means that mediation is still on the table as means of resolving the problem.
