Sexual harasssment finally enshrined in Czech law
Last week, an amendment to the Czech Labour Code, which includes a precise reference to "sexual harassment" for the first time, finally took legal effect. The amendment brings the Labour Code into line with that of other EU nations, and it is hoped that it will give more rights to working women. Nevertheless the law is not without its critics.
The amendment has been welcomed by many advocates of gender equality, who maintain that it gives Czech women greater protection in the workplace. Nevertheless, the bill had a rough ride through parliament with some fearing it might be abused by unscrupulous women and others criticising it as unnecessary. One right-wing senator even went so far as to say that Czech women were well able to look after themselves and that the amendment was simply being used "to support the desires of unsatisfied feminists who would never be threatened with any sort of sexual harassment"
Marcela Linkova, a gender studies expert with the Czech Academy of Sciences, is not surprised by such attitudes:
"I think that Czechs have this really rigid and embedded idea about the gender contract between men and women - there is a fear that flirtatious behaviour will disappear from the workplace. I think that's really not the point [of this legislation] but no one understands that."
Ms Linkova maintains that the purpose of the bill is simply to ensure that women have adequate legal recourse in the event that they are harassed while at work. In her view, the legislation is especially necessary here given that a rather chauvinist culture still prevails in the Czech Republic, which can be partly blamed on the country's communist past:
"I think that a lot of the types of behaviour that you see here would be completely unacceptable abroad: from getting into a cab and seeing pictures of naked ladies all over the place to - last year for example - we were dealing with the Academy of Sciences regarding an exhibit and we were negotiating with its Press Department. When we arrived at the Press Department's offices there was a picture of a naked lady on their notice board and there were jokes about women scientists - and yet this is the Academy of Sciences. I think that this type of behaviour from my perspective is totally unacceptable. I think we would need to conduct a detailed analysis of the causes for why things have not changed. I mean, we would have to look at what communism did with masculinity, because the state was very paternalistic and took away power from men. So there was sort of like a culture of emasculated men. We need to look at what the backlash to this is and why there are so many worries about women gaining power."
