Sexual Harassment and Reproductive Rights

Publication Date: 

January 1, 0001

Sexual harassment is not an illegal practice in many countries and there is shortage of national and international legislation to address this serious rights violation. Studies indicate that women often fail to report incidents to employers or courts because they are unaware of their rights, either because they have been threatened, or because they are afraid they will be punished or humiliated. Equally troubling is that the International Labor Organization (ILO) - the international body with the highest authority on defining workplace rights - does not currently have a convention prohibiting sexual harassment, or even a recommendation that its prohibition of sex discrimination (Convention No. 111) incorporate sexual harassment.