The Ombudsman notes that both the Staff Regulations and the IRHC refer, and logically so, to "staff" of the EU institutions. He nevertheless takes the view that these same rules apply to cases in which the alleged victim of harassment is a trainee, whose relationship with the institutions is clearly of a professional nature analogous to employment. The dignity of a trainee integrated, albeit for a short period of time, in the institutions' services and contributing to their daily work, should by no means be less deserving of protection than that of a normal employee. On the contrary, the specific status of trainees, who hold more precarious and vulnerable positions than employees do, requires particular attention to be paid to situations in which their vulnerability could be abused in the framework of their working environment.