"Sexual Harassment in the Workplace" Created by the Teaching Innovation Unit, IDC Herzliya.

1. Sexual Harassment in
the Workplace

2. • Sexual harassment is a complex and
problematic phenomenon.
• It constitutes conduct of a sexual nature
that can cause harm to another person.
What is sexual harassment?

3. Sexual harassment can be
expressed in various ways
Verbal
Non-verbal
Various
types of
behavior
and
treatment
Sexually related sayings, hints, allusions or
requests.
Staring at intimate body parts, winking,
supposedly accidental touching, caressing,
kissing, hugging, stripping, certain types of
movements and indecent acts.
Attempts to receive sexual favors by promising
some type of a material reward (e.g. raising a
mark or issuing a professional recommendation),
exerting pressure, making threats of a sexual
nature and/or using violence.

4. • Many sexual harassment cases do not happen as part of
relationships between equals, but through an abuse of
authority, therefore such cases are treated by the law in
a particularly severe manner.
• The harassed person can be a woman, a man or a child
of any age, irrespective of her/his behavior or clothing.
• Sexual harassment can take place between
acquaintances, strangers and colleagues, and even
between family members or married couples.
The relationship between the sexual
harasser and the sexually harassed person

5. • “Sexual harassment is a display of disrespect, an
offense against a person’s freedom, privacy and
against her/his right for equality. Sexual harassment
hurts the self-respect and social respect of the sexually
harassed person.
• It humiliates and degrades her/his humaneness,
among others by treating a human being as a sexual
object for the use of the harasser…”
Law for the Prevention
of Sexual Harassment

6. 1. Blackmailing under threat – a demand to receive a
sexual favor by issuing a threat
2. Indecent acts, means touching or moving in order to
satisfy sexual needs
3. Humiliating or demeaning treatment of a person with
respect to her/his gender or sexuality
4. Repeated offers of a sexual nature made to a person
who has indicated she/he is not interested in these
5. Repeated sexual remarks made towards a person
who has indicated she/he is not interested in hearing
these.
The Law defines five behavior types
as sexual harassment

7. 1. A minor of age or helpless person, while taking advantage
of a relationship of authority, dependency, or of education
or treatment circumstances.
2. A person taken care of in the context of a psychological or
medical treatment, while taking advantage of the
dependency of the former on her/his therapist.
3. An employee or servant, as part of a work relationship or in
the context of military service (including the alternative
National Service).
4. A student who is not a minor of age, in 12th grade or older,
while taking advantage of a relationship of authority in the
context of her/his studies.
5. A student in a theoretical or professional educational
institute, while taking advantage of a relationship of
authority in the context of her/his studies.
Relationships of Authority include
five types of harassed persons

8. • One of the extreme manifestations of an abuse of
authority is issuing, for example, an open and direct
threat of dismissal from work.
• The threat is not less powerful in instances in which
it is not voiced clearly and explicitly, but rather in an
implied manner.
Abuse of Authority -
threatening dismissal

9. • The meaning of an abuse of authority: achieving the
consent of a subordinate employee to perform acts
not based on genuine consent, but as a result of a
misuse of the Relationship of Authority.
• An explicit, or implied, promise given to grant a
benefit or an improvement (e.g. in working
conditions) in exchange for a sexual favor is one
example of a misuse of authority.
• Furthermore, the law defines as molesting any type
of offence based on sexual harassment or on a
claim filed following a sexual harassment case.
Abuse of Authority –
Promising a benefit/pestering

10. • In cases in which a relationship of authority
exists, the law does not require the victim to
indicate that she/he is NOT interested in
sexually oriented comments and advances,
therefore such behavior will be deemed sexual
harassment in any case.
Pay Attention!

11. • Sexual harassment is both a criminal offense
and a civil wrong. If committed in the context of
the workplace or of studies, it also constitutes a
severe disciplinary offence.
• The punishment for sexual harassment can be
imprisonment and/or payment of compensation
to the victim.
• A sexual harassment claim must be filed not
later than three years from the actual date of the
harassment.
•
Information about filing claims

12. 1. Complain to the employer or to the officeholder
responsible for the prevention of sexual harassment
at work.
2. File a complaint with the Labour Court.
3. File a claim for damages in a civil court to claim
compensation.
4. File a claim at a police station to initiate criminal
proceedings.
Four options to file a claim
about sexual harassment

13. Thank You!