October 21, 2013

One of the insightful discussions in WOMNRTS class was the one on sexual harassment in the employment, education, or training environment. This matter alarmed me because this was rather something new to me. The discussion last week was the first and only time I had a formal discourse about sexual harassment. Although an updated estimate of sexual harassment cases in the country is not readily available, I think we are all aware that this has been a rampant issue since way back because we see it on the television, newspapers, and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter every so oftenand this is the reason why we should focus our attention to this crisis. The issues regarding sexual harassment that struck me the most are the lack of legal descriptions of said topic, limited scope in terms of cases covered by existing laws, and very minimal monetary penalties and/or imprisonment for those convicted of the offense.The first issue I would like to talk about is the one regarding the inadequate descriptions of sexual harassment law in our country. According to the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995, sexual harassment in places of work, education, or training is committed by one with authority, influence, or moral ascendancy as against the other party, who is the victim in the case. I think that it is not proper to only prosecute those people who are guilty of sexual coercion only when they have authority over the victim. I suggest the law be amended so as to include cases wherein the parties involved are equal in terms of their respective positions, such as co-workers and classmates, and cases wherein the victim of sexual harassment is the one who has ascendancy at work, in school, or at the place of training; because these instances also take place in our society today and, in occurrences of such, the victims would not be able to file the case against the offender and run after the latter for reliefs.Next issue I would like to share my opinion on is the one with respect to the limited cases of sexual harassment that may be filed and heard in our courts. Also from the aforementioned law, that is R.A.7877, the provisions only mention of sexual favors demanded, requested, or required by the offender. These sexual favors are only limitedly described as those that are in exchange of particular conditions; such may be job promotion or paycheck raise, etc. In line with this, refusal of the victim to carry out such sexual favor may lead to diminishment of his or her employment rights and opportunities. Existing laws on sexual harassment do not encompass those cases wherein a victim feels sexually violated even in the absence of such conditions and physical interactions such as touching, caressing, groping, etc. Also R.A. 7877, unlike the regulations provided for by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, does not include cases of sexual harassment that are verbally committed, such as those that involve sexually offensive and hurtful jokes and other sexually discriminating remarks, regardless whether the guilty party has the authority or control over the victim or otherwise or is on equal footing with the victim in terms of employment or education. Our laws on sexual harassment must be amended so as to cater to these concerns because these cases, similar to the first issue, also occur in our surroundings. These should be attended to because the offended parties have the rights to their respective remedies and the offenders must be properly penalized. The last issue I would like to leave my comments on is that which refers to the extent of the duly imposed penalties to convicted sexual harassment offenders. Section 7 of R.A. 7877 states that penalty imposed on the offenders shall be, imprisonment of not less than one month nor more than six months, or a fine of not less than P10,000 nor more than P20,000, or both such fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the court. I honestly find these penalties, both monetary and imprisonment, very minimal considering the value of the said amounts and magnitude of the said duration of imprisonment. In this day and age, I dont think P10,000- P20,000 worth of fine and/or one-six months of imprisonment effectively discourage perpetrators in committing acts of sexual harassment. People in the workplace who have the authority among others are usually earning so much more than these amounts. In resolution, I think the fine should be increased, imprisonment should be lengthened, and regulations should more strictly observed and implemented so as to deter the wrongdoers from engaging in the said offense.In addition to these three issues, I believe another big problem regarding sexual harassment is that the victims, for some reason, refuse to take appropriate actions to stop the offender. I said this based on experience, though not in employment or education environment. It was just over a year ago when my sister and I went to New York to visit our relatives. On our flight going there, we were not seated next to each other; rather I was seated next to an old American guy. I cant recall exactly how many times but I know because I felt that he put his hand over my right high in a pasimple manner several times during the flight. That time, I was thinking hard if I should tell the flight attendants about it so they could hopefully transfer me to another seat, but until now I just cant seem to fully understand why I didnt do it; maybe because I was intimated at that instant and was afraid I might get embarrassed. The experience was psychology degrading. It was as if the guy assumed Im the type of woman who would papatol to some stranger I just met a few minutes ago.These concerns shall be properly dealt with by respective government authorities because victims of different forms of sexual harassment should be protected by law. No less than the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines declares, in Art XIII Sec.3, that the State shall afford full protection to labor and, in Art XIII Sec.14, that the State shall protect working women, who are almost always the victims of sexual harassment.