Equal Treatment Instead of Discrimination
The Anti-Discrimination Office handles not only formal complaints under the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) to address serious cases in particular and, where possible, to secure sanctions.
The Anti-Discrimination Office is also the primary point of contact for confidential counseling in cases of discrimination, sexual violence, abuse of power, and workplace bullying. If you’d like to talk, you’re welcome to schedule a schedule a personal appointment or contact us .
In addition, support is available for conflicts between individuals, between supervisors and employees, or between professors and students—in the form of coaching or mediation.
The Anti-Discrimination Office also implements preventive measures —lectures and continuing education events are held in News .
Any member of the university can contact the Anti-Discrimination Office: professors and supervisors, research staff, administrative and technical staff, and students.
The following keynote presentations will be offered in the fall of 2026:
Racism at the University
October 15, 2026 / 2:00–3:30 p.m. (online) with speaker Dr. Dennis Barasi, University of Bremen – Registration link: https://uni-kl-de.zoom-x.de/meeting/register/qFedp7P2TH-NbArnUdtVVg
Sexual Violence—An Introduction
November 19, 2026 / 2:00–3:30 p.m. (online) with speakers Hannah Schumacher (KL) and Virginia Seidel-Oeßwein (LD), Women’s* Crisis Hotlines in Kaiserslautern and Landau - Registration link: https://uni-kl-de.zoom-x.de/meeting/register/ZhRaOsh8THiKJFS9VihYUw
Anti-Semitism at Universities—Findings, Experiences, and Calls to Action
Dec. 10, 2026 / 2:00–3:30 p.m. (online) with speaker Marina Chernivsky, Center of Excellence for Anti-Semitism-Critical Education and Research (KOAS) and OFEK e.V. - Registration link: https://uni-kl-de.zoom-x.de/meeting/register/aItQInv5TEu-RdVfT6gPCQ
For more information about the keynote lecture series, visit News.
Interviews About Experiences with Discrimination
The RPTU’s Anti-Discrimination Office is conducting qualitative interviews with students and staff who have experienced discrimination, sexual violence, bullying, and/or abuse of power at RPTU.
On the one hand, the goal is to learn more about the underlying causes of such behavior and its consequences for the university. On the other hand, the interviews serve to further develop measures for future work.
The interviews are conducted in a confidential setting, and the data is anonymized.
If you would like to describe your experiences in more detail, please contact Dr. Rövekamp with the subject line “Interview”: c.roevekamp[at]rptu.de
(As of: 10/6/26)
AT A GLANCE
Organizational Unit
, Department 6.5
Contact Person
Dr. Cornelia Rövekamp (Dipl.-Psych.), Industrial and Organizational Psychologist
Mediator and Coach
49 (0)631 205 5902
c.roevekamp[at]rptu.de
Where?
Building 76, Room 233, KL
or by appointment in LD
When people are disadvantaged, excluded, or treated differently from others because of their ethnic origin, religion or belief, gender, gender identity, or a disability, this is referred to as direct discrimination. If official procedures or guidelines result in disadvantages for certain groups of people, this constitutes indirect discrimination.
Discrimination can also be positive when individuals are given preferential treatment due to existing disadvantages—for example, women in job application processes for positions where women are underrepresented. This positive discrimination is intentional—but only until the disadvantages have been eliminated.
We’ve probably all experienced discrimination at some point: perhaps based on
- gender, such as when sexualized violence makes daily life difficult or women are denied higher-level positions
- age, such as when older or younger people are less frequently considered for job placements, or when older people are assumed to lack technical expertise;
- origin or a migrant background, for example, when various forms of disadvantage arise simply because of one’s name;
- physical or mental impairments that make daily life more difficult in a variety of ways.
