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Prohibited Sexual Behavior and Sexual Violence
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Sexual Violence: Sexual Harassment
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The United Nations in its Recommendation Nr. 19 of 1992 (see here), also addressed the issue of sexual harassment:
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“Equality in employment can be seriously impaired when women are subjected to gender-specific violence, such as sexual harassment in the workplace.
Sexual harassment includes such unwelcome sexually determined behaviour as physical contact and advances, sexually coloured remarks, showing pornography and sexual demand, whether by words or actions. Such conduct can be humiliating and may constitute a health and safety problem; it is discriminatory when the woman has reasonable grounds to believe that her objection would disadvantage her in connection with her employment, including recruitment or promotion, or when it creates a hostile working environment.”
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Again, it should be remembered that that both men and women may be perpetrators or victims of sexual harassment. And, once again, it is important to note, that most victims of sexual harassment are women.
In the United States, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has stated that sexual harassment violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and has issued a set of guidelines on how to deal with it. As these guidelines make clear:
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“Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual's employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.”
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Actually, sexual harassment can take many forms from the occasional obscene remark to persistent stalking and attempted rape. The severe and truly dangerous cases, however, can usually be prosecuted under different criminal laws.
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