Sexual Harassment Law in Israel*
| Published date | 01 September 2005 |
| DOI | 10.1177/135822910500700412 |
| Date | 01 September 2005 |
| Author | Orit Kamir |
International
Journal
of'
Discrimination
and
the
Lmr,
2005,
Vol.
7,
pp.
3 I
5-335
1358-2291/2005
$10
©
2005
A B Academic Publishers. Printed
in
Great Britain
SEXUAL
HARASSMENT
LAW
IN
ISRAEL*
ORIT
KAMIRt
Hebrew
University,
Jerusalem,
Israel
ABSTRACT
The
1998
Israeli sexual harassment law prohibits sexual harassment as a discrimi-
natory practice, a restriction
of
liberty, an offence to human dignity, a violation
of
every person's right to elementary respect, and an infringement
of
the right to
privacy. Additionally, the
Jaw
prohibits intimidation or retaliation that accommo-
dates sexual harassment, referred to as 'prejudicial treatment'.
Sexual harassment and prejudicial treatment are each both a crime and a tort
under the Israeli sexual harassment law. The law makes harassers, as well as
persons involved in prejudicial treatment, potentially personally liable for either
the crime or tort
of
sexual harassment, or both. The
Jaw
awards punitive damages
to victims 1
of
sexual harassment
or
prejudicial treatment -whether or not actual
damage
of
any sort
is
claimed or proved. Sexual harassment and prejudicial treat-
ment are prohibited in all social settings and contexts.
In the workplace, an employer
is
vicariously liable for the civil consequences
of
sexual harassment
or
prejudicial treatment perpetrated by anyone in his
or
her
employ. The employer's civil liability
is
in addition to the harasser's individual
civil and criminal liability. In order to avoid liability, an employer must take all
the measures prescribed by the sexual harassment
Jaw
(including, inter alia,
establishment
of
policy and serious, prompt and efficient treatment
of
a victim's
complaint).
INTRODUCTION
Late
bloomers
may
usefully benefit
from
others'
hard-earned
experi-
ences. I like
to
think
of
Israel's 1998 sexual
harassment
law
as a case
in
point.
Technically,
some
legal reference
to
sexual
harassment
in
the
workplace
had
already
been
made
a
decade
before
the
Knesset
(the Israeli
parliament)
enacted
this law.
Under
the
Equal
Employ-
ment
Opportunity
(EEO)
Law, 5738-19882,
it
was a crime for
an
employer
3
to
retaliate
against
an
employee
who
rejected sexual
advances
made
by
her
employer
directly
or
by
her
supervisor.4
But
sexual
harassment
per se was
not
prohibited.
5 A
decade
later, very
few
retaliation
cases
had
been initiated
and
fewer still
had
resulted
in judicial decisions;
the
courts
had
little
opportunity,
and
perhaps
little
motivation,
to
develop a sexual
harassment
doctrine.6 As a
316
practical matter, Israel
had
no
sexual
harassment
law until 1998,
when the Knesset finally enacted the comprehensive 'Prevention
of
Sexual
Harassment
Law'.
7 By 1998,
of
course, scholarly feminist
analysis
of
sexual
harassment
was two decades old
and
legal systems
around
the world, especially in the
common
law world,
had
already
developed sexual harassment positive law.8
In
a rare, combined effort, the Israeli Justice
Department,
in
cooperation
with Israeli feminist legal academia
and
the legal
depart-
ment
of
the Israeli
Women's
Network, studied the vast international
materials
on
sexual
harassment
and
presented the Knesset with
an
informed
and
comprehensive
draft
statute law.9
The
final version
of
the
statute
is unique, specifically tailored
to
suit Israeli society
and
culture,
but
also, importantly, draws
on
the practice
and
theory
of
sexual
harassment
laws worldwide.
In
this respect, Israel's
sexual
harassment
law speaks in its own voice,
but
within
an
inter-
national
context
and
community.
OVERVIEW OF THE LAW
The 1998 Israeli sexual harassment law prohibits sexual harassment as
a discriminatory practice, a restriction
of
liberty,
an
offence
to
human
dignity, a violation
of
every person's right
to
elementary respect,
and
an
infringement
of
the right
to
privacy.
10
Additionally, the law
prohibits intimidation
or
retaliation
that
accommodates sexual
harassment. Intimidation
or
retaliation, thus related
to
sexual harass-
ment, is defined by the law as 'prejudicial treatment'. 'Prejudicial
treatment' is a close cousin
of
'retaliation', a
more
familiar concept
to
those acquainted with
other
legal regimes
that
prohibit sexual
harassment. Israel's 'prejudicial treatment'
is
broader
than
'retaliation'
in
that
it
may
occur simultaneously with sexual harassment
and
before
unwelcome sexual advances have been rebuffed.
11
Sexual
harassment
and
prejudicial
treatment
are each
both
a
crime
and
a
tort
under
the Israeli sexual
harassment
law.
12
The
law
makes
harassers, as well as persons involved in prejudicial treatment,
potentially personally liable for either the crime
or
tort
of
sexual
harassment,
or
both.
The
law awards punitive damages
to
victims
13
of
sexual
harassment
or
prejudicial
treatment
-whether
or
not
actual
damage
of
any
sort
is claimed
or
proved. Sexual harassment
and
prejudicial
treatment
are prohibited in all social settings
and
con-
texts. Sexual
harassment
in the workplace is
but
one type
of
sexual
harassment
under
the law;
quid
pro
quo
and
hostile environment
sexual
harassment
in the workplace are prohibited,
but
so are
sexual stalking
and
degradation
based
on
sexual orientation in all
social settings.
To continue reading
Request your trial