Recently, a teacher in Wuhan City won a landmark sexual harassment
case against her former boss, which is believed to be the first
time a Chinese court has ruled in favor of a plaintiff in a sexual
harassment suit. Now, sexual harassment is set to become a hot
topic among the public and experts as draft laws on sexual
harassment are being constructed.
The Xinhua News Agency recently interviewed Xu Weihua, an inspector
of the All-China
Women's Federation. According to Xu, experts have begun to
draft laws on sexual harassment and sexual harassment will be
written into the Law on the Protection of Rights and Interests of
Women.
Reporter: Has the work of revising the Law on the Protection
of Rights and Interests of Women begun? Which aspects will be
revised?
Xu Weihua: The revising work of the Law on the Protection of
Rights and Interests of Women was begun several days ago. The
experts group, which is made up of more than a dozen law experts
and women issue experts, will revise five aspects of the law in six
months. These five aspects include women's participation in social
and political affairs, women's rights and interests in labor,
women's rights and interests in marriage and family, sexual
harassment, and women's social security. Except for the aspect of
sexual harassment, four other aspects will just be supplemented and
modified.
Reporter: Which are the key aspects of the legislation on
sexual harassment?
Xu Weihua: The key technical problem of the legislation on
sexual harassment is how to obtain evidence. It is very hard to
obtain proper evidence on sexual harassment because victims are
usually attacked in a secretive environment. It means that there is
no witness. It is also very hard to get evidence on verbal and
physical assault. So, the onus of proof should be considered for
legislation. Not only do the victims have the onus of proof, but
the defendants also have the onus of proof.
I
believe that women should take their own responsibility and
strengthen their self-protection. Once the sexual harassment has
happened, women should keep the evidence consciously while also
protecting themselves. Punitive compensation should also be
considered for legislation. Great compensation claims could scare
offenders and restrain the occurrence of sexual harassment.
(China.org.cn translated by Wu Nanlan, June 20, 2003)