Lawmakers in Shaanxi are drafting a provincial-level
regulation that will strengthen the Women's Rights Protection Law
in an effort to better deter sexual harassment.
The regulation, which is expected to come into force next year,
is aimed at filling in gaps in the anti-sexual harassment
provisions written into the Women's Rights Protection Law last
year.
Representatives from the provincial people's congress, the local
legislature, are currently drafting implementation guidelines for
the Women's Rights Protection Law of the People's Republic of
China.
The guidelines provide detailed definitions of what activities
constitute sexual harassment, said Zhao Wenyuan, deputy director of
the Legal Committee of Shaanxi Provincial People's Congress.
Vague language in the Women's Rights Protection Law is thought
to have weakened the legal protections included in the landmark
legislation.
According to the Shaanxi draft, any unwanted sexual advances
aimed at women, featuring pornographic material or involving sexual
requests in verbal, written, graphic, electronic or physical form,
constitute sexual harassment.
"According to the draft version of the bill, men who whistle at
or ogle women in a sexually suggestive manner, or who stare at
certain parts of a woman's body could be considered as engaging in
sexual harassment," the deputy director told China Daily
yesterday.
Members of the provincial people's congress standing committee
said they believed that including clear definitions of what sort of
behavior could be considered sexual harassment in local legislation
was a big step forward for the province.
"The regulation empowers women who suffer from sexual harassment to
complain to the appropriate authorities. They will be able to
report men who harass them to public security officials for
punishment," Zhao said.
However, Li Jun, deputy of the provincial people's congress and
professor at the Northwest Law University, said the description was
still not detailed enough.
Li warned that it would be too difficult to obtain evidence of
harassment without clear guidelines.
On December 22, 2001, a court hearing China's first case
involving sexual harassment ruled against a 30-year-old woman
surnamed Tong who had sued her boss for sexual harassment, saying
there was insufficient evidence to prove the woman's
allegations.
Tong had accused her boss of harassing her at work and making
obscene phone calls to her home between 1993 and 2000.
The lawsuit attracted much attention to the issue, and last year
the provisions were included in the Women's Rights Protection
Law.
However, because the definitions included in the Women's
Protection Law are vague on what constitutes sexual harassment,
many provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have added
their own detailed supplements to clearly define the practice.
On October 25, the Shanghai People's Congress started reviewing
the country's first local regulations to clearly define sexual
harassment. Shaanxi has followed suit.
"If Tong's lawsuit had taken place today, the new regulation
would have worked in the victim's favor," the professor said.
The draft also touches on other women's-rights issues. For
example, it calls for more female officials in the local
government; it calls on schools to ensure enrolment for female
students; it protects women from early retirement; and it says
rural women should have access to free childbirth services in
hospital, Zhao said.
(China Daily December 1, 2006)