Community Assessment - Human Rights Center, SNU

Community Assessment Checklist
NO.	Item	Yes	No
1.	There have been conflicts among colleagues because of the lack of clearly established roles and responsibilities.
2.	There is no established procedure through which one can negotiate or file complaints about one’s roles and responsibilities.
3.	Roles and responsibilities can get assigned sometimes in a way that is discriminatory or disadvantageous to certain people.
4.	The level of competition in the community is too high, with everyone under constant pressure for performance.
5.	The community requires certain or all of its members to handle tasks/workloads that cannot reasonably be completed by the deadline.
6.	Certain members are excluded from their roles and responsibilities in the community.
7.	Certain members are repeatedly required to handle tasks shunned/avoided by others.
8.	Certain members are always or mostly excluded from important information or decision-making regarding work, research, or education.
9.	The community is made up of a majority of full-time or regular members as well as a minority of part-time and temporary members, with the latter often denied chances to make their voices heard and/or take up jobs handled by the former.
10.	There are instances where people rebuke or criticize a specific person for their mistakes in front of others.
11.	The community compels its members to attend frequent group activities outside of work, with members fearing possible disadvantages as a consequence of sitting out.
12.	It is difficult for members to take a break during break time freely without being conscious of others.
13.	Most of the members come to school early and leave campus late. Not working longer hours than necessary makes them feel bad.
14.	Members are expected to respond to calls/messages about their work, research, or education even at night or on holidays.
15.	I have seen members who could not return to the community after taking their maternity leave. And/or it is difficult to take parental leave from the community without fearing consequences.
16.	People working in labs or at jobs where risk of exposure to a hazardous thing or condition exists were denied the necessary safety training and protective equipment.
17.	I have heard malicious rumors and gossip about the personal affairs of other community members.
18.	The community generally embraces gender stereotypes and behavior based on those stereotypes.
19.	The community is too inquisitive about/ready to interfere with members’ intimate relationships, marital status, religious/political/ideological views, family situation, appearance and looks.
20.	Certain or all of the community members have been/are called by inappropriate names.

There are good chances that someone is already being harassed in your community. The community needs to reform its culture, and contact the HRC and the ombudspersons to provide support for people who have suffered and plan the next course of action for the community.

[Source : SNU Humanrights Center]

○ Risk factors for harassment
1. Lack of diversity in community membership
- When the vast majority of the community’s members share the same backgrounds/characteristics (gender, age, ethnicity, religion, employment status, etc.), and others who do not share such characteristics make up only a small minority, the chances of the minority being isolated and harassed increase.

2. Difficulty of verbal communication in the community
- The difficulty of verbal communication has the effect of keeping the members in the dark about their rights and making them vulnerable to disadvantage.

3. Significant power gaps in the community
- Members that belong to a subset of the community with relatively little power can be vulnerable to harassment, and feel unwilling to report the matter out of fear of retaliation or dismissal.

4. Scattered or isolated physical locations
- When the spaces that the community uses for work, etc. remain physically scattered or isolated, people working in those spaces may become vulnerable to harassment. Physical isolation also tends to inhibit effective communication across the community, making it difficult for those in leading/managerial positions to deal with harassment in an accountable manner.

5. Structural stress factors
- Excessive emphasis on performance, control over tasks, insecurity of employment status, and other such structural factors can stress out members, locking them in an excessively competitive and controlled atmosphere.

6. Lack of system
- The lack of a clear system providing work-related resources and tools, training, fixed schedules, and fair performance evaluations increases the risk of harassment.

7. Lack of effective communication
- The lack of effective communication in the community, and/or alienation and animosity between members, increase the risk of harassment.

8. Inappropriate leadership
- Leaders who refuse to respect different opinions, who make decisions unilaterally, who informally require members to take responsibility without following established procedures or protocols, and/or who regularly use insulting language and/or gossip are prone to engage in harassment.

[Sources: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, “Chart of Risk Factors for Harassment and Responsiveness”;
Australian Human Rights Commission, “Workplace Discrimination and Harassment Policy Template.”]

Community Assessment Checklist