Sexual harassment is illegal in the United States under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and it results in lawsuits every year when these regulations are broken. Have you ever wondered how the efforts in the U.S. over the last half of a century help it stack up against other countries?
When compared to Canada, the United States sees a higher percentage of complaints; by looking at percentages, it adjusts for the difference in population. In 2014, nearly 30 percent of all of the cases that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) saw were for sexual harassment. In Canada, in 2013, harassment cases are seen by the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and they only made up 17 percent of the total.
The United States may be more closely in line with the European Union. When women from the EU were studied, it was found that 40 percent to 50 percent had been harassed at work. Of course, there is a difference between how many have experienced harassment and what percent of total cases stem from that harassment. Some cases also don’t get reported.
In India, 95 percent of girls and women in Delhi felt vulnerable in public spaces, but only 17 percent in urban areas of the country said they’d been sexually harassed at work. Some of India’s anti-harassment laws are relatively new, having been passed in 2013.
As you can see, sexual harassment is an issue that continues to persist all around the world, despite laws and regulations. Those whose rights have been violated must know what legal options they have.
Source: Catalyst, “Sex Discrimination and Sexual Harassment,” accessed March 14, 2017