The Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection published a bill to amend a number of legal acts that is aimed at reviewing the national legislation on sexual harassment in the workplace and at the place of study. The bill was placed on particip.gov.md, for public debates. Alina Andronache, of the Partnership for Development Center, has told IPN that the bill is very necessary.

Under the bill, among subtle forms of sexual harassment at the workplace are the indecent looks, unaccepted embraces, dirty jokes and language. The serious forms of harassment include the demand to have sex for recompense, use of force or threats to have sexual intercourse, etc.

The bill says the State Labor Inspectorate is responsible for monitoring the observance by employers of the Labor Code provisions that oblige employers to take measures to prevent and combat sexual harassment. But the Code does not stipulate punishment for employers who know about the existence of acts of harassment at enterprises, but do not take measures to do something and can obstruct the process of reporting these cases.

The draft law contains supplements to the Education Code concerning the prevention and elimination of sexual harassment in education institutions. It is suggested creating a mechanism for reporting sexual harassment based on which to develop secondary regulations and to amend the Teacher’s Code of Ethics. The current legislation does not oblige education institutions to adopt internal procedures for combating sexual harassment and it is thus hard to prevent the phenomenon. The Education Code also does not clearly define the methods of combating sexual harassment in higher education establishments.

It is suggested amending the law on advocacy, the law on the organization of notarial activity, the law on bailiffs and the Contravention Code so that these contain provisions on workplace sexual harassment and discrimination.

Alina Andronache stated for IPN that the bill was proposed for public debates for the second time. The Partnership for Development Center during several years formulated recommendations for adjusting the national legislation on the issue. They conducted analytical studies, submitted relevant proposals and insisted that the action plans of the last governments should focus on the prevention and combating of sexual harassment in the workplace and at the place of study.

According to Alina Andronache, the impact of the bill could be discussed only after the last variant is defined. “What the draft law says now about sexual harassment in the education sector is not sufficient. We will thoroughly analyze the bill and will present a public position and accurate amendment proposals,” she stated.

The informative note to the bill says each fifth female employee in Moldova is subject to subtle forms of sexual harassment in the workplace and four women of 100 face serious forms of workplace sexual harassment. Studies show sexual harassment affects physical, mental health and the professional environment. It also affects the quality of work, negatively influencing performance in the education process.