It is necessary to study and add more sanctions for sexual harassment in public places
Recently, on the social network Facebook appeared a clip more than 1 minute long, recording a scene of a young girl screaming in a passenger car, accusing the male assistant of the car overriding and groping her. In the clip, the girl said she tried to fight back and was bleeding on the hand by the male assistant. While the girl loudly accused the driver of being molested by the driver and asked to stop at the police station to report, the driver showed a superficial attitude, asked a few questions and answered “I don’t know where the police are.” .
After that, the girl took out her phone, called the operator’s switchboard of the garage, the assistant took the phone, refused to call and repeatedly apologized, asked the young girl to “forgive” her and said : “Slowly solve it, then I can do whatever you want”. However, the young girl did not accept and finally reported the incident to the garage, asking to handle the male assistant. The garage has confirmed the above incident and fired the male assistant who sexually assaulted female passengers.
It can be said that this is an act of sexual harassment that occurs in a public place that is posted on a social network. The case has caused discontent in the public and most of them require strict handling according to regulations. The dismissal of the male assistant by the garage is a relationship between the employer and the employee, not related to administrative responsibility, as well as damage to the victim’s reputation and dignity.
Male drivers who commit sexual harassment in public places are an expression of contempt for the law, directly infringing upon the honor and dignity of others, and need to be strictly handled for education and deterrence. and prevent violations. Therefore, when the police receive information about sexual harassment in public places through any form (it may be reported by the press, through social networks or provided by the public). ,…) must immediately compile a dossier and invite relevant parties to work in order to have a basis for handling the case; absolutely not for the reason that the victim’s report has not been received, but prolong the handling or let the case “sink”.
Not only handle people who commit acts of sexual harassment in public places in accordance with the law, but also have to “hide their names” in their residence and on the mass media to deter them. , education and prevention of violations. At the same time, for some subjects who commit acts of sexual harassment in public places due to a medical condition, compulsory medical treatment must be applied.
In the long term, it is necessary to study and add more sanctions for sexual harassment in public places that are under house arrest and supervision by local authorities, especially local authorities must be reported. when leaving the place of residence.
At points dd and e, Clause 5, Article 7 of Decree No. 144/2021/ND-CP dated December 31, 2021 of the Government on sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of social security, order and safety festival; Prevention of social evils; fire protection; rescue and rescue; Domestic violence prevention and control stipulates: “A fine of between VND 5,000,000 and 8,000,000 shall be imposed for one of the acts of groping, sexually harassing, obscene or sexually arousing in public places”. In addition, for acts of sexual harassment, there is also a remedial measure: “Forcing a public apology unless the victim has an unsolicited application”.
However, at present, criminal prosecution for acts of sexual harassment has not been specified by the Penal Code. If it is proven that the act of sexual harassment has seriously offended the dignity and honor of others, the person who commits this act may be criminally handled for the crime of “Humiliating others” according to Article 155 of the Ministry of Finance. Criminal Law 2015 (amended and supplemented in 2017).
Therefore, in order to prevent sexual harassment in public places, it is necessary to add criminal elements of the crime of “Humiliating others” such as: The object of sexual harassment in a place. The public who has been administratively sanctioned for the second time or more is eligible to handle the crime of “Humiliating others”.
According to: Vietnam Lawyers Electronic Magazine
