De-gendering of Sexual Harassment

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the development of the definition of sexual harassment in China and its gendering. Initially, China's definition of sexual harassment was mainly based on the Western model, with women as the subject of harassment. However, with the progress of relevant legislation, there is still inconsistency in judicial practice despite the gradual de-gendering at the law-making level. At the beginning of this paper, we analyzed the significance of de-gendering sexual harassment and explored the causes of the differences in the definition of sexual harassment in theory and judicial practice, concluding that the lack of a clear definition of what constitutes sexual harassment and the solidification of social awareness are the key factors hindering the de-gendering of sexual harassment. To this end, this paper proposes a method for redefining what constitutes sexual harassment, which takes into account a combination of factors such as rights, against one's will, intentional behaviors of a sexual nature, and specifically directed objects, as a basis for determining sexual harassment. Through this approach, we aim to comprehensively de-genderize sexual harassment, further promote gender equality, and emancipate women's social status.