Women call for tougher measures against workplace harassment
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E-mail Xinhua, May 17, 2012
China's working women have welcomed a new regulation designed to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace, as incidents of harassment have become more common in recent years.
A new regulation adopted by the State Council that went into effect on May 7 requires employers to take responsibility for protecting their female employees from sexual harassment in the workplace.
"The regulation gets employers, who used to be indifferent to the issue, involved. It is good news for us, as women's rights and interests are highlighted and respected in the form of official provisions," said Ye Li, a female employee of a Shanghai-based state-owned enterprise.
A recent survey conducted by Sina.com, the country's largest Internet portal, showed that about 23.6 percent of the respondents had suffered from sexual harassment at work, while 48 percent of respondents had heard of such cases.
Wang Jia, a 29-year-old employee of a large IT company, said cases of sexual harassment have been reported before, but the claims have been difficult to verify.
Since the harasser is often in a position of power or authority, victims are likely to keep silent despite suffering from enormous anxiety, Wang said.
With more Chinese women joining the workforce than ever before, problems concerning women's rights and interests have increased as well, according to Zhang Shiping, vice chairman of the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU).
About 40 percent of female employees at joint venture enterprises have suffered from sexual harassment in the workplace, while more than 70 percent of women working in the service industry have complained of harassment, according to a 2010 survey by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Although the State Council's regulation marks the first piece of nationwide legislation to specify employers' responsibilities concerning sexual harassment, the concept has been part of some local regulations and company policies for some time, said Liu Minghui, a professor at China Women's University.
Employers have the responsibility to train their employees to protect themselves in the workplace, as well as supervise their working environment, in order to prevent harassment, said Li Peixuan, a lawyer from the Beijing Lawyers' Association.
"Most large corporations have policies against sexual harassment," said an employee surnamed Meng from the Beijing branch of Proctor and Gamble (P&G), the world's largest consumer goods company.
"Our company provides regular training on the prevention of sexual harassment, not only for women, but for all employees," Meng said.
Zhang Jing, a female employee of a multinational cooperation based in Beijing, said that one of her company's managers was sacked after harassing an employee during a business trip last year.
Zhang said her company has established strict policies that prohibit any form of discrimination or harassment, including sexual harassment.
Incidents of workplace sexual harassment directed at women have been more frequently reported in recent years, said Lan Qing, deputy chief of the All-China Women's Federation's department for women's rights and interests.
The new regulation is designed to fill in the gap left by a previous piece of legislation, the Law on Women's Rights Protection. Although the law bans sexual harassment against women, enforcement has been lax, according to Lan.
The Sina.com survey indicated that 89.4 percent of respondents said their employers had never gotten involved in any cases concerning sexual harassment.
About 39.8 percent of respondents thought the effectiveness of the regulation may be hampered by a lack of detailed implementation measures, the survey said.
Since it is difficult to gather evidence in sexual harassment cases, victims who complain of harassment may run the risk of having their claims interpreted as libel or even face losing their job, said Zhou Meizhen, an expert on women's studies at the Shanghai Women's Cadre Institute.
Lu Meixia, a victim of sexual harassment in the southern city of Guangzhou, paid the cost for filing a lawsuit against her boss in 2010.
Lu was fired after she won her court case. She was awarded 3,000 yuan (474.3 U.S. dollars) in compensation, which was not even enough to cover her attorney fees.
Zhang Jing said harsher punishments, including the possibility of criminalizing workplace sexual harassment, should be imposed to decrease the occurrence of sexual harassment.
Zhou agreed, suggesting that companies should build transparent offices for people in high-ranking positions and avoid sending single women on business trips with their male counterparts in order to discourage would-be harassers.
In the meantime, Zhou said female employees should maintain their self-esteem, dress appropriately and firmly refuse unwanted sexual advances.
Lu Yin, a lawyer from the Shanghai Lawyers' Association working in the field of labor law, said employers should create a safe working environment for their employees, adding that they still have a long way to go to put the regulation into effect.
Employers can issue concrete policies in accordance with the characteristics of their own specific sectors, Lu said.
Internal complaints and confidential investigation procedures for sexual harassment claims, as well as organizations for helping victims get legal and psychological assistance, should also be included in the policies, Lu added.
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