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)