A man could face legal action if he casts his eyes towards a female work colleague in a sexual way, under a new proposal.

Shaanxi Province legislators are drafting their proposals on enforcing the national Law of Protection of Women's Rights and Interests, and are developing ways to outlaw sexual harassment towards women. The lawmakers are specifying exactly what constitutes such offences.

Under the proposed draft, sexual harassment could include unwanted advances, such as salacious or sexually suggestive language, words, pictures, emails and gestures. One lawmaker went further by expanding the definition of sexual harassment to "casting flirting eyes at women," especially when the eyes were focused on the middle part of a woman's anatomy.

The local legislators submitted their proposals to the standing committee of the Shaanxi People's Congress, the local law-making institution, for review last week.

In Beijing, shopping centre salespeople are banned from casting scornful eyes at customers.

It appears eyes are the focus of concern for some legislators and policy makers. However the definitions extending to these "offensive" eyes are ambiguous, especially in Shaanxi. The incorporation of "casting flirting eyes to women" into local legislation would exceed the proper limits in righting a wrong. It would also be almost impossible to enforce. How will lawmakers in Shaanxi deem when a person's eyes are obscene or sexually provocative?

If a woman felt sexually harassed when she perceived a man was casting "flirting" eyes at her, how does she prove it? How does she save the evidence for filing a suit? Does she equip herself all day and all night with a hidden video camera?

Inadequate evidence has made it impossible to wind up many sexual harassment cases in this country.

The legislator in Shaanxi tried to broaden the scope of sexual harassment by outlawing men casting flirting eyes to the opposite sex. This attempt to improve the law is laughable. If passed it will be an unworkable law and not worth the scrap of paper it is written on; however, it has sparked debate and this is a positive consequence.

Legal interpretations on sexual harassment are not available in the country. Sexual harassment is mentioned in China's national laws, but these laws fail to specify what constitutes such behavior. The pioneering lawmaking work in Shaanxi though going a little bit too far has sparked much needed discussion.

The discussion in Shaanxi could set an important national precedent in encouraging women to protect themselves by legal means. But the legislators need to set their eyes on more meaningful elements when drafting a bill on outlawing sexual harassment.

(China Daily December 4, 2006)