Abstract: Since the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, the prevention of sexual harassment in China has gone through three stages of development: academic discussion, legislation and adjudication. Qualitative and quantitative investigations initiated in different years have revealed the social harmfulness of sexual harassment and the importance of defining the concept of sexual harassment and establishing a prevention mechanism. In localized research on sexual harassment, Chinese scholars should not only conduct comparative analysis from an international perspective, but also based themselves on local practice, so as to develop a local social governance model from legislative evolution and judicial practice. Since the Fourth World Conference on Women, China has gradually established and continuously improved the legal system for the prevention and control of sexual harassment. In this process, the breakthrough in the provisions on sexual harassment in the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests was a historic turning point, and the establishment of relevant provisions in the Civil Code is of milestone significance. Making the dispute over sexual harassment damage liability an independent cause of civil litigation is more relevant to the nature of the tort of sexual harassment, and more conducive to the accurate determination of the nature of the case and timely protection of the rights and interests of victims.

The author of this article is a research fellow and the head of the Social Law Department of CASS Law Institute; director of CASS Center for Gender and Law Studies; and a professor and doctoral supervisor at the University of CASS.

Source: 3 (2021) Journal of Chinese Women's Studies.