4.1  Responding to microaggressions

a. The EU Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence (7 May 2024), including measures to prevent and protect against gender violence and harassment at work, has to be transposed by the member states into their domestic legislation and policy before 14 June 2027.

Check if they have done it in your country or what legislation is in use and save the reference

b. By law, companies are responsible for sexism and microaggressions. They should have a department in place to prevent and report it, as well as a protocol for intervention. If there is an organisational norm or protocol for dealing with microaggressions, read it and note the relevant data in your resource sheet in particular:

• Where this document can be found.
• Which department is in charge of intervening.
• What behaviours are included as microaggressions in the protocol.
• How can you contact the specific department or the person in charge (telephone number, email, app etc.)

c. Determine whether your company has a psychological support service in place, how it can be accessed, and/or who is responsible for health support services.

d. Look for materials that can help you better understand what constitutes a microaggression and why it is essential to address this issue or raise awareness among your colleagues – some examples are:

• How microaggressions are like mosquito bites – Fusion Comedy (2016)
• How I deal with microaggressions at work – BBC video (2024)
• Gender related Microaggressions – Royal Pharmaceutical Society Posters (n.d.)

e. If you experience a microaggression during a videoconference:

• Write down some sentences you can use to interrupt it or prevent it from going further. Options could include directly addressing the person responsible (only in situations that make you feel safe), responding with irony or humour (see Unit 4) to the aggression, communicating that you are feeling uncomfortable, taking time to relax, turning off your camera, or providing a plausible justification to leave the meeting.
• If you anticipate that someone might be aggressive towards you in a meeting, you can prepare some strategies with colleagues that can help to interrupt or reduce the effect of the microaggression. Identify which colleagues could be helpful and how their position and communication skills might help to develop a strategy; if the potential aggressor is not the chair or line manager, consider if you would feel comfortable speaking to your line manager or chair to prevent the situation.
• Think about a trusted person you could speak with afterwards for support.
• Identify some managers you may want to inform about the situation and ask them to support you in any action you decide to take.

f. If you witness a microaggression during an online meeting (remembering that you should always respect the person affected):

• Consider ways of interrupting the microaggression (e.g. validating the person targeted or what they have said, pointing out that what has been said is inappropriate; invalidating the aggressive discourses, not the person who has produced them, indicating your support to the person who has been targeted, with a private message or with a gesture).
• You may want to speak privately to the person who has been aggressive to make them aware of what has occurred and your discomfort with it (take some notes that can help you to communicate this).
• Ask the person targeted how they feel and what kind of support and help you might offer (take some notes that will help you to communicate this, and you may also want to share your resource sheet).