Employers from southwest China's Sichuan Province will have to find additional finances to come up with new mechanisms to protect their female employees from sexual harassment in the workplace, according to regulations released this October. By thoroughly implementing the newly revised Law on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women, local lawmakers said that if any proven sexual harassment or assault takes place in the workplace, and thereby causes physical and psychological harm, or damages the reputation of the victim, the employer will share the civil liability for compensation.

The amendment to the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Women states that it is illegal to subject women to sexual harassment, and also urges either private enterprises or government institutions to take steps to prevent the occurrence of sexual abuse.

In China, career women are major victims of sexual harassment as there are few protection mechanisms for them, said the All-China Women's Federation, adding that sexual harassment often involves senior employees, or even the bosses themselves.

More than half of the almost 11,700 women respondents to a survey conducted earlier this year by the People's Daily website said they had suffered sexual abuse at work.

In the past, women were entitled to initiate complaints against sexual harassment but employers could not be held responsible and neither were they required to take further action. As a result, it was much more difficult for abused women to complain or sue. And thus the All-China Women's Federation had long been calling for the establishment of a pilot legal system based on proactive protection mechanisms in the workplace.

Sichuan's legislative initiative has therefore been widely acclaimed as an innovative step toward helping to prevent on-the-job sexual harassment.

Some legal experts applauded the launch of this new regulation as a landmark move, which enables women to work in a healthier environment; while others were not so optimistic about its implementation, arguing that it would be hard to enforce in reality.

Cases involving sexual abuse and assault are hard to judge due to the difficulties in identifying and justifying submitted evidence. Some even question the legal basis of this Sichuan initiative, since sex crimes are the behavior of individuals and have no direct link to their jobs, let alone charging employers for their alleged negligence. Critics said that employers should not interfere in their employees' private business, and should not be responsible for their individual behavior. The measures outlined women's rights in numerous situations, but failed to address sexual harassment.

Respect women

Xu Guangmu (www.china.com.cn): Sexual harassment is attributable to employers for the following reasons. Employers or subordinate division heads have little awareness of taking proactive measures to prevent women from being hurt. Perhaps, this sheer ignorance will in turn incite more violators. Sometimes, out of consideration for the company's reputation, bosses will be very likely to conceal scandals by turning a blind eye.

Under a more people-oriented legal framework, where employers and employees are equally protected, more tough measures should be put in place to further eliminate harm to comparatively disadvantageous women employees.

Zhang Junpeng (www.southcn.com): Pursuant to the rules of present legal procedure, lawsuits against sexual harassment are costly. If employers could share part of the financial liability for compensation, or to take more preventive measures, the costs on this will definitely be largely reduced.

Perpetrators and victims of sex crimes happening in the workplace are often familiar with each other, so these acts could worsen the working environment and increase tension in labor relations. On the one hand, the attacked females may suffer from emotional trauma, as well as disgrace and embarrassment all day long until they cannot bear it any longer and have to quit. On the other hand, if the victims choose not to speak out about this crime and live in fear it is even more unfair for them to deal with the mounting pressure caused by the abuse.

Bi Xiaozhe (hlj.rednet.cn): It is especially important for female staff at part-time or temporary jobs to have this legal protection, since women in this category are easy prey and once abused are hardly ever compensated.

As a disadvantaged group, female workers deserve more social care and attention. Meanwhile, they should be fully aware of their rights in order to make full use of the judiciary system and be firm with their employers. By strengthening the sense of corporate social responsibility, more companies will be proactive in raising awareness of sexual harassment through all staff ranks.

Lao Chunyan (www.sina.com.cn): The international community defines sexual abuse as forcing unwanted sexual activity by one person on another, by threats, coercion or improper behavior. For early prevention, some transnational companies are strict with their employees to avoid such embarrassment, giving warnings during the recruitment program or having this clearly defined in the company's labor manual. This can provide an equal, healthy and safe working environment.

Some people have complained that rigid codes of male-female interaction would make working hours boring. But we must realize that something enjoyable for men might be painful for women. In this sense, employers are obliged to take effective measures to make the climate in the workplace equally comfortable for male and female workers and the legal system should support this process.

Fair is fair

Yang Tao (www.e23.cn): Employers are obliged to be liable for harm to their employees during the course of their duties. Given the fact that, normally, no employer would ask its employees to assault others as a professional requirement during work, employees should be individually responsible for crimes they commit. This means employers are not involved in spite of their employment relationship.

Employers are required to provide labor safety for the employed, which includes a safe working environment and hygiene during working hours, rather than detection of abuse or crimes. More importantly, only state authorities with designated power are entitled to punish criminals, not employers.

Ye Lei (www. guangxinews. com. cn): To prevent employees from being hurt, mentally and physically, each company have obligations, and it is a core part of the people-oriented management style. In spite of this, in reality, there are incidents of sexual harassment from time to time. Obviously, those who commit sexual abuse should take major responsibility, while companies ethically owe victims reasonable compensation based on specific situations. However, it's unreasonable to include ethical liabilities into legal documents.

Dong Gang (www.china.com.cn): It is an issue of law to require civil compensation from and criminal punishment for those who commit crimes. At the same time, female workers should first know how to protect themselves when they are victimized. They should call the police to get legal assistance or ask for help from their employers. But employers can never act like the police to enforce the legal rules.

Zhou Xiyin (Chinese Business View): It's true that sexual harassment is a frequent occurrence in the workplace. However, when laws are still unable to list the behaviors that fall into the category of sexual harassment and judicial organs find it hard to rule on relevant complaints, how can we expect a perfect anti-sexual abuse network to be established society wide?

The capability of employers is limited. If we push them too hard on this, they might turn away female workers to avoid trouble in the future, something that would be an even bigger problem for female job seekers.