Sexual Harassment and Violence: Information and Legislation

It is defined as an intentional act that seriously disturbs a person's peace.

The Decree of 12th December 2008 on the fight against certain forms of discrimination defines harassment as all undesirable, abusive and repeated conduct, particularly in the form of unilateral behaviour, words, intimidation, acts, gestures and writings, the purpose or effect of which is to undermine the personality, dignity or physical or psychological integrity of a beneficiary of education [...], or to create an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.

This decree specifies the concepts of harassment, a situation in which unwanted behaviour related to one of the protected criteria of a person occurs with the purpose or effect of violating their dignity and creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment, and discriminatory harassment if the reason for the harassment is based on certain criteria (known as "protected") and defined by the anti-discrimination decree:               

a) criteria related to sex, which covers pregnancy, childbirth, maternity, sex change, gender identity and gender expression;           

b) so-called racial criteria: race, nationality, skin colour, ancestry/heritage (e.g. Jewish) or national or ethnic origin;           

c) sexual orientation;        

d) disability, physical or genetic characteristics, or the state of one’s health;           

e) religious or philosophical beliefs, political and trade union beliefs;         

f) age, birth, marital status, financial status, language, social origin and sexual harassment creating a situation in which unwanted conduct with sexual connotations, expressed physically, verbally or non-verbally, occurs with the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a person and, in particular, of creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. 

Cyber-bullying includes any form of harassment that uses new information and communication technologies to pester, threaten, and insult victims with the aim of harming them.

Defined, in the law of 22nd May 2014 aimed at combating sexism in the public space, as "any gesture or behaviour which, in the circumstances referred to in Article 444 of the Penal Code, is clearly intended to express contempt for a person, on the grounds of their sexuality, or to consider them, for the same reason, as inferior or as reduced to their sexual dimension and which results in a serious attack on their dignity".

It is defined by the World Health Organization as "any sexual act that is committed against a person.  It can be committed by a person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any context.  Pushing a person into sexual acts against their will, whether or not the act was committed in its entirety, as well as an attempt to involve a person in sexual acts without that person understanding the nature or conditions of the act or without a person being able to refuse to participate or being able to express their refusal because they are intoxicated, drugged, asleep or mentally incapacitated, or as a result of intimidation or pressure.      

There are different forms of sexual violence: indecent assault is any sexual act that is performed under duress and/or that violates the sexual integrity of a person.         
However, this does not include penetration, which is classified as rape. This is an intentional offence, i.e. it is committed consciously and voluntarily; rape is defined in Article 375 of the Penal Code as "Any act of sexual penetration, of whatever nature and by whatever means, committed on a person who does not consent, constitutes the crime of rape.  There is no consent, in particular, when the act is imposed by violence, coercion, threat, surprise or trickery, or is made possible by reason of the victim's infirmity or physical or mental deficiency"; or public indecency, child pornography, incitement to debauchery, voyeurism, exploitation of the debauchery of others, etc.

Work-related psychosocial risks cover occupational risks that affect both the mental and physical health of workers, and persons related to them (e.g. a student on work experience), and that have an impact on the proper functioning and performance of enterprises and on safety.

The origin of these risks lies in the organisation of work, content of work, working conditions, working life conditions and interpersonal relations at work.

Stress, moral harassment, burnout, suicide, and alcohol and drug abuse are the best-known manifestations of these psychosocial risks, the occurrence of which can be very costly for the workers, the company and the community in general.

The employer is obliged to take the necessary measures to prevent psychosocial risks at work, to prevent damage arising from these risks or to limit such damage.