To path indicator To navigation by target groups To navigation by topic To quick access To footer with other services
To content
The logo of the Equal Opportunities Office at TU Dortmund University
GUEST LECTURE BY PROF. DR. ULRIKE LEMBKE

Abuse of power and sexualized violence at universities: Prof. Dr. Ulrike Lembke provides fascinating insights from a legal perspective

-
in
  • News
The graphic advertises a guest lecture by Judge Prof. Dr. Ulrike Lembke entitled “Gender, Hierarchies, and Respect.” In clear, modern font, the left side of the image reads “A legal perspective on the issue of sexual harassment at universities.” The text is set against a dark, vertical column. To the right, the title is highlighted in large, bold letters. Next to the dark column and below the title is a smaller, greener column. Next to it is the word “Guest Lecture” in green lettering, and below it, in black lettering, “Judge Prof. Dr. Ulrike Lembke.” © Karolin Kriesch​​/​​TU Dortmund
On 29 October 2025, independent legal scholar and judge at the Constitutional Court of Berlin Prof. Ulrike Lembke spoke to over 120 participants about the history of abuse of power at universities, how this issue has been dealt with in German law and courts to date, and concrete options for institutions to intervene in cases of sexualized harassment, discrimination and violence.

The TU Dortmund University's International Meeting Center (IBZ) was packed for a Wednesday evening during the semester: Over 120 people from all the university's member groups had come to hear Ulrike Lembke speak. Under the title "Gender, Hierarchies and Respect", the renowned expert addressed the highly complex and also stressful topics of sexualized violence and abuse of power in the university context in a clear and accessible way using concrete examples from legal practice.

The evening was opened by Elisabeth Brenker, Equal Opportunities Officer at TU Dortmund University. She thanked the many different participants who had worked together to organize the lecture. In addition to the Equal Opportunities Office, the Equal Opportunities Team of Department 12, the Working Group on Abuse of Power and the Central Counselling Centre for Protection against Discrimination and Sexualized Violence (SchuDS) were also involved in the event's organization. "As the Central Equal Opportunities Officer, I am delighted that there are a whole range of players at TU Dortmund University who are driving forward the discourse on the phenomenon of abuse of power and working to promote a culture of respect," said Elisabeth Brenker in her welcoming speech.

Vice-President Diversity, Professor Petra Wiederkehr, then addressed the audience. She explained why a lecture on this topic is relevant at universities and described what has happened at TU Dortmund University in this area in recent years: In 2022, the guideline for protection against discrimination and sexualized violence at TU Dortmund University was adopted, on the basis of which SchuDS has been established in 2023. "I am so glad that we have you and that we have been able to consolidate this important position," said the Vice-President to the SchuDS staff. This was followed in 2024 by the founding of the Abuse of Power Working Group, which brings together many different participants.

Ulrike Lembke, who has long been researching the legal debate on abuse of power, sexualized harassment, violence and discrimination and has herself worked at universities for 20 years, began her presentation by explaining why it is necessary to talk about the presence of these problems specifically at universities: Universities are places where there are particularly strong relationships of dependency and trust between professors, employees and students. Nevertheless, the misguided assumption often persists that there is no great power imbalance at universities because, in contrast to school or apprenticeships, most students are already of legal age. Lembke described all of this as "opportunity structures" that make it easier for the powerful at universities to abuse their power. Whereby power does not only come from status. Ulrike Lembke made it clear that in a patriarchal system, gender relations also create power imbalances. Furthermore, forms of discrimination such as racism, classism and ableism must also be taken into account in the discourse.

The jurist then offered an overview of the legal approach to the topics of her presentation. She reported on positive developments in the legal system. For example, in 2018, the Federal Court of Justice recognized that sexualized harassment often has nothing to do with sexual desire, but is an attempt to express one's own power, intimidate and expose the persons concerned. This concession opened up new avenues for legal action against abusers. On the other hand, Lembke also criticized, for example, the Northrhine-Westphalian Higher Education Act, which has a rather rigid and narrow definition of sexualized harassment, violence and discrimination. This can make it more difficult to identify perpetrators as such before seeking legal advice.

While the legal perspective primarily focuses on options for sanctioning discriminatory or harassing behavior by individuals, Ulrike Lembke impressively demonstrated in her presentation that universities must become active above all in terms of intervention and prevention. The constitutional judge left no doubt that universities, as public authorities, have a constitutional duty to protect their employees and students from discrimination.

 

Back